An Exception to Every Rule
by Michelle285
Summary: Horatio/Natalia. When Natalia is a spy for Monica in the lab what does she do? Do the lab's occupants find out? What happens when Natalia falls in love with an important person in the lab, and he falls for her?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Nope, they are still not mine. Maybe I can come close to owning them one day. I know it is doubtful, but hoping never seriously hurt anyone. Sorry, I can't remember which one. _

_A/N: Okay, so I'm trying something different this time. This is going to be about Natalia and Horatio. I'm not sure how much I like this pairing, but I had an idea, and I ran with it. Horatio seemed to be the best person to put her with for this idea. The timeline is going to be very off on many things, and I have decided Horatio doesn't marry Marisol in my story; he doesn't even love her in this story. I'm not sure that I'm going to be good at writing Horatio, but we'll see. Well, here goes nothing. I hope you enjoy! _

After a full week, her bruises and cuts were beginning to heal, again. She had to get another temporary restraining order against him, again. And Natalia Boa Vista felt like an idiot, again.

He had been a great man when they were dating. The wedding and the honeymoon had been absolute heaven. He was even nice when their marriage had started to progress. Then he started to get angry when she did something he didn't like, or didn't do something he would have liked. The anger eventually led to abuse. This was the last time though! She was going to quit her undercover job from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and move away; effectively forcing Nick Townsend, her abusive ex, out of her life.

An undercover agent was not exactly the job Natalia had expected when she graduated from college with a degree in biology and forensic science. She had expected to be an analyst in some kind of lab or teach science. When a woman in a small café began to talk to Natalia and offered her a job in the FBI, Natalia thought it was only going to be for a couple of weeks. It turned out that spying on people and reporting their actions takes a lot of time and massive planning. Because of that, Natalia had just finished her first job at an insurance company and it wasn't fun at all!

This wasn't fair! Natalia had a degree in something that she should make money in, something she loved, so why wasn't she doing it? Natalia loved biology. She could spend days talking about DNA, RNA, deoxyribose, ribosomes, nuclei and strands of every kind until her listeners had fallen asleep from boredom. Her "friends" at the insurance company had often asked her why she hadn't become an analyst. She wanted to, but she just couldn't while she was working undercover for the FBI. She learned quickly that undercover agents couldn't just quit their job if they had any hopes of _keeping_ their jobs. Just quitting would result in getting fired from the FBI altogether.

Natalia hated this job, she really did. She didn't want to sneak around anymore. She was going to give her two weeks the next day. She had nothing tying her down anymore. She was going to find a job somewhere else that had nothing to do with undercover. Maybe she could try teaching biology or some kind of science. Natalia had made up her mind. If she didn't get another job in the next five seconds she was quitting tomorrow.

As fate would have it, her phone began to ring with an annoying screech. Natalia sighed and rolled her eyes. Of course this would happen. She knew she shouldn't answer, but she couldn't help it. She was naturally curious, which made her perfect for this undercover job, which she obviously wasn't getting rid of any time in the near future.

"Hello," Natalia said, greeting the person on the other end with little excitement.

"Natalia Boa Vista?" The woman questioned.

"That's me," Natalia confirmed.

The woman introduced herself. "I am Monica West. I am from Miami, Florida. The FBI told me you work as an undercover agent. I have a job for you."

Natalia sighed. "What does the job entail?" Natalia was just asking routine questions that every agent asked. Natalia knew she would end up taking the job. After all, she was good at this, and she knew she wouldn't be good at teaching. She knew all the thinking she was doing had been in vain. She was good at sneaking around and lying and she would never be this good at anything else.

"This job is in a Crime Lab," Monica started.

Natalia gasped. "A Crime Lab?"

"Yes," Monica answered, bewildered at the sudden change in Natalia's voice. "Anyway, I know they are doing something shady, and I need a reliable witness reporting back to me every second. Everyone in that lab is so loyal and they wouldn't tell me anything; I have tried all kinds of questioning. I even threatened the lieutenant and his employees with their jobs, but they still wouldn't give anything up," Monica explained. "I would like for you to be here in the next few days to start the job."

"Well, I have to know what I will be doing while I'm working there. How will my presence be justified?" Natalia asked again. This was another routine question. After finding out this job was in a Crime Lab, she wouldn't be able to resist.

"You will be working unsolved cases. As a DNA analyst," Monica stated, nonchalantly, not knowing how excited Natalia would be.

Natalia's eyes got wide, but being the trained investigator she was, she refused to let Monica know how happy she was with that piece of news. "That sounds like a decent job. You will pay me well I trust?"

"I will pay you when you give me what I want," Monica stated.

"You will pay me, or I give you nothing at all," Natalia countered. This was another routine thing. They never knew who they were dealing with, and if they didn't ensure the pay, it was sometimes likely they wouldn't get it.

"Alright, fine," Monica agreed. "I will meet with you in a few days here in Miami, give you a month's pay, and then you can start on the job."

"That sounds better," Natalia told Monica. "At the beginning of every month we will meet and you will give me the money. I will keep reporting to you as long as the money stays at what I see a good amount." They went on to make more plans for their meeting and Natalia's role in the Crime Lab.

After Natalia broke the connection she noticed a small smile on her face. This may not be the break she had always been looking for, but at least she would be doing something she loved. What did it matter if she was undercover?

Natalia didn't yet realize what an amazing impact this job would have on her life. She also didn't realize that this job was going to teach her more lessons than she could ever hope to learn on her own. Most importantly, this job and those people she worked with were going to teach her about loyalty, friendship and how to fight for justice by any means of attainment.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, and will not for the rest of the story. If I happen to miraculously own something, I will let you know. But until further notice, I own nothing. _

_A/N: I took some lines from season 4, episode 1 in this chapter, I'm sure you'll know which lines they are. Lots and lots of thanks to Jessica237 for betaing! Enjoy!_

Standing at the front desk, Natalia was sure Monica West had some kind of personal thing going on with Horatio Caine. Maybe a vendetta, maybe jealousy, maybe even pure hate. Whatever it was, Natalia was here helping Monica satisfy it. Well, in about a month Monica would feel satisfied. Monica wasn't planning on calling Natalia until a month had passed, because Monica had said those CSI's wouldn't trust a new person in the lab so quickly.

The lab was beautiful, and Natalia had made it even better. Well, Monica had paid for it, but Natalia was instructed to say she had done it. A complete renovation of the lab had just been finished. Natalia didn't know what it looked like before, but it looked amazing now. And she was supposed to say she had paid for all the renovations that had been done on the lab.

Natalia was also instructed to butter up the CSI's and their boss (Horatio Caine) so they would trust her. Monica knew if they trusted her, they would tell her things; things that Monica needed to know to get Horatio out of the business. Natalia could tell how much Monica wanted Horatio out of this job, and didn't think that much obsession could be very healthy. What could she do about it though?

The more Natalia thought about it, the more Natalia knew Monica had a grudge against Horatio. She had been very evasive in answering questions Natalia had asked. Natalia had been taught to never take a job unless there was positive proof that the person she was investigating had done something illegal, so as a habit Natalia asked Monica for positive proof. Well, there was no proof here, but against Natalia's better judgment she took the job anyway. After all, she was going to be working with DNA, and that's all she really wanted.

Natalia was already afraid she was showing too much excitement. The lady at the front desk only gave her a small smile and promised her that someone would be here soon to show her around. That was at least twenty minutes ago. The lady must have been lying. Suddenly, Natalia was afraid she was giving something away about her position. She quickly shook her head to get that thought to stop nagging her. This was what she did best. She took a deep breath. Where was that escort? She had to get away from this desk, or else she would be plagued by even more uneasy thoughts.

"Excuse me," Natalia tried to get the lady's attention. "Did you say that someone would be here in a minute to show me around the lab?"

"Yes," the lady said. "And someone _will_ be here in a minute."

"That was about twenty minutes ago," Natalia reminded the lady.

"That isn't my fault," the lady snapped.

Natalia rolled her eyes. Maybe she wouldn't like working here as much as she thought.

Natalia could see the elevator from where she stood, and she saw the doors began to open slowly. She knew these people were not here to show her around, but she would take what she could get. The lady at the front desk was not helping Natalia one bit.

Natalia studied the people as they began to get off the elevator and as she walked toward them. This was something she did out of habit. Normally she could read people very well, but the people she had met today were a new experience for her, because they weren't as easy to read.

There was a beautiful blonde lady who was pushing a small cart. There was also a boyish looking man who she assumed worked here, but didn't look old enough to shave yet.

"Wow!" the blonde lady breathed after taking in her surroundings. "It's beautiful."

"You can thank me for that," Natalia said walking up to them.

"Well…thank you," the blonde lady stated. "Who are you?"

"Natalia Boa Vista," Natalia introduced herself.

"Boa," Ryan echoed. "Like the snake?"

Natalia smiled. How many times had she heard that? "Exactly like the snake."

"I'm Ryan Wolfe," Ryan told her. "And this is Calleigh Duquesne."

Natalia nodded. "I'll try to remember those names, but I'm not giving any promises yet. I work in DNA."

Ryan grinned. "Can you run this for me then?"

"I'm sorry," Natalia apologized. "Strictly unsolveds."

Ryan shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have some guns that are just begging for my attention," Calleigh said as she began to walk off, leaving Natalia and Ryan alone. "Nice to meet you!" She called over her shoulder.

"Guns?" Natalia asked bewildered.

"If you are going to work here, you need to learn some things. Rule number one: Don't mess with Calleigh. She will shoot you," Ryan remarked, with a smirk playing on his lips.

Natalia's eyes got wide. "Really?"

"Okay, probably not if you just make her mad," Ryan relented. "But if you threaten to hurt the lab, or become chummy with Stetler…"

"Hurt the lab? What is a stetler?" Natalia questioned.

Ryan laughed. "Oh yeah. You've got _a lot_ to learn."

Ryan began to walk aimlessly and motioned for Natalia to follow. He had a lot to explain and didn't feel like explaining it right in front of the elevators. They were blocking a lot of people who were trying to get in and out of the lab. Besides, this lab was never safe anymore; sometimes there were surprise visits from Stetler, and Ryan didn't want Stetler walking in on a conversation about him. That wouldn't really up his opinion of the lab.

"Okay, first off," Ryan began. "Stetler is not a what, it's a who. Rick Stetler works in IAB and is always on our backs for something or other. He hates inter office relationships and most of the things that we do in order to catch criminals, so if you go and blab to him, none of us will like you too much, and that won't get you any points with Calleigh. She hates people whom she can't trust, and so my advice to you is don't become one of those people.

"Now, as for hurting the lab…well, that can only happen if you talk about us to people outside of the job. I'm going to be pretty straight with you, but don't tell anyone I told you all this. Sometimes we do things that aren't exactly considered correct. We usually don't get caught, and we don't plan to any time soon. Horatio has always lived with the philosophy that as long as guilty people are off the street, it doesn't really matter how they got in jail. We always have proof that they are guilty and don't just put people away because we feel like it. We can't even hold them just because we want to…well not for more than thirty minutes."

"What are some ways the lab does these things that aren't 'considered correct?' " Natalia inquired. She had yet to decide what she was going to report to Monica, and she needed more information before that decision was made.

"I'm sorry," Ryan apologized. "I've already told you way too much. You'll find out when you have worked in the job for long enough. Just don't do any of those things and you'll stay on Calleigh's good side. I have to go get this to DNA." They had ended up back at the elevators, and Ryan did have evidence that needed to be ran.

"Wait!" Natalia called. "Can you walk me to Lieutenant Caine's office? I have a meeting with him and I don't know how to get there."

"Sure," Ryan agreed. "Why didn't you just ask Paula?"

"Who?" Natalia questioned.

"The lady at the front desk," Ryan clarified.

Natalia made a face. "She wasn't very nice to me when I came in and she didn't seem very keen on helping at all."

Ryan snuck a glance at the desk. "That doesn't sound like Paula. Oh, I forgot. Paula is out sick today. Her replacement…well, she normally doesn't know what she is doing. Trust me; Paula is very nice and helpful."

Natalia nodded. "Wonderful, but that doesn't help me today. Can we get to the Lieutenant's office please? I'm already late."

Ryan shrugged. "That's not a problem because here we are."

Natalia turned and saw a door. "Oh! I guess I should have realized that we were walking."

Ryan just laughed. "Now that we're here can I take this to DNA and bug Valera?"

"Of course," Natalia told him. "Just as soon as you tell me who this Valera is."

"The best DNA analyst in the business," Ryan explained. "And she will be sure to let you know that she is. She is also a major gossip and if anything is going on in the lab, you can be sure she will know about it. I hope you like to listen to gossip, because working with Valera, I'm sure that is about all you will hear."

"I like gossip as much as the next girl," Natalia joked smiling.

"Good," Ryan said smiling as well. He could really get to like this girl. "I will see you later."

As Ryan walked off, Natalia began to feel a little bit uncomfortable. After all, she was doing one of the things that might get her shot by the one and only Calleigh Duquesne. She also felt guilty about it, because she somewhat concurred with Horatio's philosophy, thinking about Nick. Oh well. She had to pay the rent somehow. She kept that thought at the front of her mind, pushed all others to the back, and knocked on the office door.

_Kind of boring, I know. She had to meet some of the lab's occupants though. This was kind of a filler, sorry. Tell me how you liked it, even if you're just going to tell me it was boring! Review please! _


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Look to earlier chapter. _

_A/N: Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing. And now…Natalia meets Horatio! My first attempt at solving the puzzle that is Horatio. I hope you like it. Enjoy!_

"Come in," Horatio called through his office door. He was supposed to be meeting a new person here today, and he wasn't sure how this meeting was going to go.

As soon as Horatio saw her he was sure this meeting was not going to go well. In fact, her working here was not going to work at all. She was much too pretty. He knew that could help the lab, but it would do him absolutely no good. He thought she was beautiful, and that could lead to things that were just not acceptable in this lab, according to Stetler. No, he didn't care what Stetler thought, but…well, there had to be a reason why he couldn't like her.

Natalia was just staring at Horatio. The way his eyes looked was not reassuring her about taking this job; she had seen that look before many times. This same look was in Nick's eyes before things had taken a turn for the worst. Natalia's eyes got wide; could her boss be thinking things that bosses shouldn't be thinking about possible employees! She wasn't sure she could handle this right now, especially since she was supposed to be reporting his slip-ups to Monica.

"Ms. Boa Vista," Horatio repeated.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant!" Natalia exclaimed. "Did you say something to me?"

"Yes," Horatio told her. "I said it's very nice to have you working here. We need another analyst here." _What am I saying?_ thought Horatio. _ Am I giving her permission to work here?_

"I'm only working unsolved," Natalia clarified. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be."

Horatio shrugged. "You never know. Besides, there are some times when rule breaking is necessary."

Natalia just looked at him skeptically. She wished he would meet her eyes. She had seen them at the beginning, to see that look, but now he wasn't looking at her at all. She didn't really want to see his eyes and see that particular emotion in them, but she would at least feel more comfortable about taking this job. With him not looking at her like this, she felt like she wasn't good enough for his attention.

As he continued to talk about their lab and different things, Natalia became extremely frustrated. "Would you just look at me?"

Horatio's eyes shot up, and there was surprise reflected in them. At least this time they landed somewhere in the range of her face. "Pardon me, ma'am."

"I'm sorry," Natalia apologized. "You weren't looking at me when you were talking to me, and quite frankly that bothered me. When people don't look at me I think that they either have something to hide, or they think they are better than me. And since I knew you couldn't have anything to hide…" Natalia trailed off, hoping he understood what she was trying to say, and accepted her apology. She knew Monica would be disappointed with her if she got fired her first day on the job.

Horatio nodded, "I'm sorry as well. I don't think that I am better than you. I just don't normally look at my employees when we are conversing, because they tend to think I am scrutinizing them."

"Why?" Natalia had to ask.

"I am very experienced at reading people, and when I look at people, I always try to read them, and look for truth and lies in what they say," Horatio explained. "I didn't want to scare you on your first day. I didn't want you to quit." _Wait, why didn't he want her to quit?_ This was proving to be much too confusing for Horatio, so he was just going to stop thinking completely.

Natalia laughed, and Horatio couldn't help but think (okay, maybe not stop thinking _completely_) that was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard. "I think I have been scared enough today," Natalia pointed out smiling. "I have already been snubbed by…Paula's replacement as…Ryan called her. Then…Calleigh told me she had to go work with her guns, Ryan told me that she would shoot me if I did something wrong, and I was pretty sure you were going to fire me because I was late."

Horatio began fiddling with his sunglasses. He didn't want her to work here. He didn't want to have to see her every day and think about beautiful she was. Wouldn't that interfere with his job? Oh no, now he was sounding exactly like Stetler, and that was one thing he wanted to NEVER do. He might as well just let her work here. After all, if she was in unsolved, he wouldn't see her much. He usually didn't see Valera, and she was the real DNA analyst around here.

"I'm sure you will find this lab a very interesting place to work," Horatio told Natalia. "Also, I'm sure you'll be up on all the gossip in the next hour or so. Valera is going to be so happy to have someone to which she can spill all her news."

Natalia laughed, "Ryan already warned me about her. I think it should be very interesting."

"I believe—" Horatio suddenly got interrupted by his ringing cell phone. "Excuse me ma'am."

He turned to answer his phone, and Natalia was glad that while they were talking that look had somewhat diminished. Maybe she was just imagining things all together. Maybe he didn't really like her.

As Horatio flipped his phone shut he turned to face her. He stood with his legs spread apart and on his sunglasses went. "We…will speak later."

As Natalia watched him walk out of his office she couldn't help but wonder _Why did he put those sunglasses over his eyes? He was inside his office!_

_ Sorry, this is rather short. Tell me how I did on Horatio. At least I got the sunglasses? Right? __ I hope you liked it! Review please! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Earlier chapters. _

_ A/N: Yes, you get two chapters today! Get excited! The last one was short, so I thought I would give you all two to make up for the short-ness of the last one. Someone from Natalia's past appears. Who could that be (as if you don't know)? Enjoy! _

At work the next day, Natalia thought about all the people with whom she worked. Valera was a huge gossip, but listening to her was interesting. She also was a very good analyst, and knew it. Natalia watched Valera work and wished she could be that efficient and fast at the same time. Valera noticed the constant glances and started explaining to Natalia what she was doing, and Natalia was learning things about DNA she never knew existed. She loved it!

Calleigh Duquesne was a bit distant. Natalia was still a little scared of her, but they had a talk the other day, and Calleigh seemed nice enough. Natalia could tell that Calleigh didn't completely trust her yet, but Natalia could only hope that Calleigh was getting there. After all, Calleigh was a good person to have as an ally, but if you got on her bad side, you had better watch it. Well, at least that was what Valera, along with numerous other people, had said.

Eric Delko was different than any other guy she had known. Well, she had known Nick for so long maybe she had forgotten how a good guy acted. She was sure Eric was a good guy, but she knew she had no chance with him. Natalia was not blind, and even though Eric had flirted with her a few times, she knew he would always have eyes for Calleigh only. She had seen how he looked at her and how she looked at him. Valera had said that they had shared these looks forever, but both of them were chickens. Natalia had to agree, because if they both felt the way they looked, they were stupid to not express the feelings.

Ryan Wolfe was funny. He was too open with her, so Natalia knew if she needed information, she could get it out of him. She never told anyone how open he was, because he was her main source of information. Well, information that was reliable and that wasn't gossip. Natalia hadn't decided what, if any, bad things she was going to tell Monica yet and Ryan helped her. The only problem was: every time Ryan told her something sneaky that the lab had done, Ryan told her how Horatio justified it, and that justification made perfect sense! Natalia actually agreed with most of Horatio's justifications, and she was sure reporting to Monica was going to be extremely tough.

Horatio was more difficult to figure out than any other person she had met before. He truly was a huge enigma. He looked at her with that Nick look, and yet she wasn't afraid of it anymore. He had something about him that just calmed her and made her unafraid. She hadn't figured out how to address this yet, and she didn't want to dwell on it too much. Her favorite part of Horatio was watching him interrogate suspects. She loved how good at it he was. She didn't watch him too often but when she did, she loved it. She suddenly remembered the first time she saw Horatio interrogate a suspect.

_"Have you seen H?" Eric asked Natalia. _

_ "Yes, he is in there with a suspect," Natalia told Eric. _

_ "Oh!" Eric exclaimed. "Do you want to watch?" _

_ "I can't go in there, can I?" Natalia asked. She seemed to remember not being able to go in an interrogation room. _

_ "Well, no," Eric conceded. "But you can watch through the two-way mirror." _

_ Natalia's eyes lit up like a light bulb. Eric just had to look at her face and he knew she wanted to watch. They walked into the other room and began to observe. _

_ "I know you killed her, Mr. Forrest," Horatio said softly. "Why don't you just admit it?" _

_ "How can he talk so quietly and yet sound so intimidating?" Natalia mused more to herself than to Eric. Looking up at Eric she asked another question. "Isn't he supposed to have some kind of proof?" _

_ "Technically, yes. I have it right here though," Eric told her. _

_ "But he's telling the man he's guilty without seeing it? Shouldn't he check it as well? After all, he didn't analyze the evidence," Natalia questioned. That seemed wrong. In the FBI, everybody checked up on everybody else. _

_ "It's correct," Eric assured her. "The evidence doesn't lie. We can all do our jobs well, and H doesn't feel the need to check up on us." _

_ "Is the man guilty? Did the evidence show him as being guilty?" Natalia inquired. _

_ "Yes," Eric told her. _

_ "How does Horatio know?" Natalia breathed. _

_ Eric shrugged. "If there is one thing I've learned over the years it's: don't question Horatio Caine. He is what he is, and he's always right." _

_ Natalia shook her head. "He amazes me. You all amaze me." _

Natalia smiled. That was a lot of fun, and now she walked by the rooms when she knew there was a suspect inside, hoping to see someone who would invite her to watch again. She wasn't sure if she wanted to watch Horatio interrogate someone or just watch Horatio. She didn't really care though, as long as she got to see him.

Natalia was getting ready to walk toward her lab when she heard a voice. "Natalia Boa Vista. Fancy seeing you here."

Natalia's eyes widened and she spun around quickly. "Nick! You can't be here. I have a TRO against you. Stop walking toward me! You are violating the constraints."

"It expired two days ago baby," Nick corrected her. "I can come as close as I want."

"I can get another one," Natalia said, trying not to let her fear show. She knew he wouldn't do anything here, but if he could come near her, there was no telling what he would do. "How did you find me?"

"It doesn't really matter now. Besides, while you may get another TRO, you can't get it right this second. Which means I can do this," Nick grabbed her arm and smiled evilly at her.

Natalia took a deep breath and swallowed. "Let go of me, Nick." Nick didn't comply; he just gripped her arm tighter. "Nick," she pleaded.

"I believe the lady asked you to let her go," Horatio said, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere.

While Natalia's eyes widened in surprise, she also smiled in relief. If anyone could help her out of this situation, it would be Horatio.

"You can't tell me what to do," Nick contradicted, sounding like a three-year-old. Natalia noticed that even though he was arguing, he had dropped her arm.

Horatio noticed as well and quickly pushed Natalia out of the way and stepped in between her and Nick. "Yes…I can. I am in charge of this lab. The lab covers this floor, so I am in charge of this floor. When people who are distasteful come up here, I can make them leave. Now would you like to leave on your own or am I gong to have to assist you. I should warn you, if you get assistance from me, you will be leaving by the nearest window."

Natalia smiled as she saw Nick's eyes widen in actual fear. She knew Horatio had scared him, and she knew Nick believed Horatio as well. She didn't think Nick had a reason to doubt Horatio. If she had been on the receiving end of that, she would be at the nearest exit by now.

Nick was still standing there with fear in his eyes. Although he was scared, he looked like he wanted to say something. He suddenly thought better of it and walked over to the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Nick got in and decided he was safe. "You got rid of me for now, but you won't always be there for _that woman_. I will be back some other time."

"Bring it on," Horatio challenged Nick. "She has a name you know."

"Maybe, but she doesn't deserve one," Nick laughed as the elevator doors closed. Horatio was furious at Nick's evil behavior and he wanted to chase after him and hurt him within an inch of his life. Of course, that would not look good with IAB and Horatio couldn't even say it was in self-defense.

"Thank you," Natalia whispered when Nick was gone and she was sure her voice wasn't going to shake.

"It was not a problem, ma'am," Horatio told her with kind eyes. He was still furious, but he was able to hide that while he was talking to Natalia.

As she began to walk away, Horatio grabbed her arm to stop her. Fear flashed through Natalia's eyes before she realized it was Horatio. The fear was gone almost quicker than it had appeared.

Horatio couldn't help but wonder what Nick did to her. Horatio didn't want to believe it, but he was almost sure Nick had hurt Natalia. Suddenly, Horatio wanted take care of that man (who didn't deserve a name anymore) in a few silent shots. Still, Horatio had to say what he planned to say when he stopped Natalia. "Don't listen to a word he says. He was wrong on all accounts. I'm sure he has said things to you before that you shouldn't have listened to as well. I suggest…you take care of that restraining order now." He put his sunglasses on and walked away from her.

_There he goes with those sunglasses_, Natalia thought. _Again, he is inside the lab! _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I rather liked the part with Nick and Horatio, but that's just me. I hope you liked it as well. Review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_ Disclaimer: You know this already, if you don't, it's in earlier chapters._

_ A/N: This is kind of short too, there should be a little more action in the next chapter. Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing, and enjoy! _

A month later, the lab was under an official investigation, and it wasn't Natalia's fault. She had just spoken to Monica that night and Natalia lied to her. Natalia had told Monica that the CSI's didn't trust her yet. Monica believed her, and Natalia couldn't help but think Monica was incredibly stupid. If she knew anything about the lab she should know they would trust Natalia until she did something to break that trust. The only thing that mattered to Natalia was that Monica believed her and she had more time to think about what to say.

The next day, the investigation was announced. When she stepped off the elevator she noticed some commotion. What really scared Natalia was the fact that Monica was there and talking to Horatio. While Natalia didn't think Monica would give her away, she was still scared. What if Horatio said something about trusting Natalia? Natalia shook that idea away; she didn't think that was very likely.

Still, Natalia couldn't resist the urge to walk by them. There was a way to get to the DNA lab by walking that way. Sure, it took longer, but Natalia was willing to take a few steps out of her way to hear what they were saying.

As she began to walk towards them, she noticed Horatio looking at her. She knew Monica didn't see it because Monica never looked at the person to whom she was speaking. Natalia wrinkled her brow at Horatio in a silent question and he shook his head. Natalia sighed. He was telling her not to come this way right now. Although Natalia wanted to disobey, she couldn't. She nodded her head in agreement and turned around begrudgingly.

She was disappointed all the way to the DNA lab, but before she walked into the door she got considerably happier. She saw Valera and she looked as if she was about to burst with gossip. Natalia had seen that look many times, and she was sure Valera had the scoop. She may be a gossip, but she was usually a reliable one.

"Have you heard the news?" Valera asked in excitement as Natalia stepped in the door.

"I haven't, but I saw everything at the front desk. Tell me what's going on today!" Natalia almost begged. Natalia had never shown this much interest in gossip, but Valera was so excited to have someone else to tell Natalia knew Valera wouldn't notice the obvious excitement at the prospect of knowing.

"Well, you remember the case a few days ago with Eric and the pot in his kit, right?" Valera asked.

"Of course, but he was cleared of that," Natalia stated. "Wasn't he?"

"Yes," Valera told Natalia. "Now, his sister was caught with a lot of bags of marijuana in her car. Monica West, the state attorney, is here because Horatio is trying to get Eric's sister out of jail. I think Horatio's favorite thing to do, besides annoy Stetler, is cause trouble for 'Queen Monica.' She thinks she owns him, but she really doesn't…" Valera kept talking, but Natalia wasn't interested in what she had to say anymore.

Suddenly something Valera had said registered. "Wait, why does Horatio want to get Eric's sister out of jail."

Valera laughed. "Because she didn't do anything wrong, technically."

"But having several bags of marijuana is defined as possession with the intent of selling. Isn't that a felony?" Natalia asked. As far as she knew, both of those things were wrong.

"Well, yeees," Valera dragged. "You have to look at it in perspective though. Marisol has cancer. That drug is the only thing that helps her with the repercussions of the chemo. I hope the state attorney sees it Horatio's way. That poor girl wouldn't last one day in jail."

"Why isn't the state attorney letting her out on bail?" Natalia questioned. She knew Monica didn't like Horatio, but this was cruel. Monica had to have some feelings, and a girl's life was at stake.

"She can do whatever she wants," Valera told Natalia morosely. "This is classified as a felony, like you said, which means it's in the state's hands. This is related to our lab, and Monica doesn't like Horatio."

"But you said Marisol wouldn't last a day in jail!" Natalia cried. "Her life is in danger!"

"I know," Valera said. "So do you, and so does everyone in this lab. All Monica can see is how this relates to Horatio. I hope she can see that this is bigger than satisfying some type of grudge."

"Me too," Natalia whispered. She felt incredibly guilty about what she was doing now. Granted, she hadn't told Monica about this, but what if she had? What if she tells Monica things that the lab is doing wrong, but they have a perfectly justified reason for doing them. After all, they shouldn't have to check their every move with Natalia. This wasn't going to turn out good at all.

"Earth to Natalia," Valera called, bringing Natalia back to the present. "Your phone is ringing!"

"Oh!" Natalia exclaimed, and reached to answer it without looking at the caller ID.

"Meet me at the café down by the beach," Monica said conspiratorially. "I have your monthly salary and I need to talk to you." The connection was broken and Natalia sighed. She didn't do anything, but she had worked here for a little less than a month and the lab was in a mess. Of course, Nick had always said the only thing she was good for was causing a huge mess. Natalia couldn't believe she was still making a mess of things now.

She was so sure her life was taking a turn for the better. She liked working with the DNA, and most days she didn't even think about why she was here. She liked these people and how passionate they were about catching killers and getting criminals off the streets. She absolutely loved Horatio. She loved how he always knew whether the suspect was guilty and how he could catch them no matter what. What she loved the most about him though was his sunglasses, and how he always put them on when trouble was coming, whether he was outside or not.

She didn't want to leave all this, but she couldn't keep causing trouble for them. She would have to quit, but she would tell Horatio she had been working for Monica and warn him to keep an eye out for anyone else that might mysteriously appear in his lab to work unsolved. It was going to kill her, but after her declaration of what she really was, she didn't think she would enjoy working here because everyone was sure to hate her.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Earlier chapters, although if you don't know by now, really? _

_A/N: Another chapter. I hope you are excited. Thanks to Jessica237 for her fantastic job in betaing! Natalia and Monica have a little talk. I hope you enjoy!_

At the café, Natalia could tell by the look on Monica's face that she was angry. Natalia was pretty sure she knew why Monica was angry, but she didn't want to say anything yet.

They sat there in complete silence until Natalia just had to break it. "Can I have my money now?"

"Not yet," Monica told Natalia. "Why didn't you tell me about Marisol being caught with drugs in her car last night when we talked?"

"Because I didn't know about it yet," Natalia stated truthfully. "It happened after my shift ended."

"Don't lie to me!" Monica cried. "I know those CSI's spread the news throughout the lab so everyone can help. No matter what time it happened, they would call everyone."

"They probably would," Natalia admitted. "But I'm not a CSI. They wouldn't even call me if they needed DNA analyzed, because I just work unsolved. This isn't an unsolved case."

"Wouldn't they let you work DNA anyway," Monica probed. She was still trying to get information out of Natalia. Monica wasn't sure Natalia was being completely truthful when Natalia said the lab didn't trust her yet. "I mean, this is a big case, and it is very close to home."

Natalia shrugged, "I don't know. They have a DNA analyst. Maxine Valera. She is really good, and they don't know my skills yet. Besides, this may be a big case, but it doesn't really involve much DNA. The only DNA it involved was on the bags, and that was just used to find the dealer's name. Valera was given that, and she ran it before lunch."

"And that ridiculous dealer has to be in the wind," Monica mumbled. "I know Horatio had something to do with that."

"What makes you say that?" Natalia asked.

Monica looked at her like she was crazy, "What?"

"You were talking out loud, you know. I heard you, and I want to know what makes you think Horatio had something to do with it," Natalia clarified.

"I just know he does. He doesn't want that girl in jail, so he doesn't want the dealer to be found. What he doesn't know is that I can keep her in jail and don't have to let her out on bail," Monica explained.

"But you can't do that!" Natalia exclaimed.

Again, Monica gave her that look, "Yes, I can. It's a felony, which makes it my case. I can choose to do whatever I want."

"But she has cancer! She wouldn't last in jail!" Natalia cried. Since the subject was brought up, she was going to do anything she could to make Monica see how cruel she was being. This wasn't fair!

"Oh well. I'm sure she'll be fine," Monica said nonchalantly.

"How can you say that?" Natalia whispered. "How can you not care that you are going to kill someone?"

"I'm not killing someone," Monica protested. "I'm just putting her in jail for doing something wrong."

"But you can let her out on bail," Natalia pressed. "If you aren't just because you have some problem with Horatio, you are in essence killing her! You shouldn't go as far as killing someone just so you can get revenge on Horatio! I thought that was why you hired me."

"I hired you to spy on the lab, not just Horatio," Monica argued. "Besides, you aren't doing a very good job. You didn't tell me that Eric was found with pot in his kit. Why didn't you tell me that last night?"

Natalia sighed, "I thought I was only there to report on Horatio. Now that I know my assignment is different, I will be watching everything. I didn't think—Wait! How did you know about that? If I didn't tell you…"

"I am pretty chummy with IAB," Monica told Natalia truthfully. "Any time Rick Stetler is up in your lab, I will know why he is up there."

"Again, I have to ask, why do you need me?" Natalia questioned. She didn't want to quit, but she didn't want to do this spying either. Maybe she could make it out of this job with no one the wiser.

"I need someone on the inside no matter what. I need someone who sees everything, because I know that lab is capable of hiding things from Rick. I need someone who sees everything they try to hide," Monica explained.

"You will still need proof," Natalia pointed out wisely. "How do you plan to get that?"

Monica shrugged, "That's easy. You will give it to me, and then you will get a bonus."

Natalia sighed. She thought she had Monica there, but she should have known Monica would come up with a way to get the evidence. Suddenly Natalia remembered something, "But stealing evidence is illegal. Can't they put me in jail for that?"

"I could get you out," Monica told Natalia. "And I would make sure I did."

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Fine! Can I have my money now?"

"Of course," Monica agreed as she handed it across the table. "Just make sure you remember your job is to watch the whole lab and not just Horatio. Besides, why are you arguing with me on all these things? I'm sure I'm paying you better than you could ever get there."

"You are," Natalia agreed. "But I don't approve of killing people. And that is what you would be doing if you keep Marisol in jail for more—Monica! Leave here right now!"

Monica's face took on a surprised look, "Why? We haven't even eaten yet!"

"I know, but I see someone that is important to an open case at the lab. I have to call the lab and let them know," Natalia half-lied. Yes, someone was working here who was very important to an open case. Natalia just didn't tell Monica it was the drug dealer. Natalia had seen his face this morning when Valera ran the DNA. Even though Natalia had only seen the face for a second, Natalia had no doubt in her mind this was him. If she didn't get Monica out of here, he could get off work and they would lose him again.

"Please, Monica," Natalia almost begged. "Leave."

Monica finally relented and got out of her seat to depart from the café, "I don't know why this is so important to you. You don't really even work for that lab officially."

Natalia's eyes widened. She had about five seconds to come up with a believable excuse. "Like I said earlier, I don't approve of killing people. If this guy doesn't get caught, he could kill more people. I will see you later. I will be sure to call you if I have anything to report."

"I'll call you if you don't call me," Monica said. Natalia didn't even hear her; she was too intent on making sure her call went through to the lab.

_ Yeah, again, there is not really much action in this chapter, but it is all necessary, I promise. I hope you are being entertained by this slow going fic. I promise it will get somewhere good eventually. __ Review please! _


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Don't own. _

_ A/N: Yeah, it isn't exciting yet, but there is some Horatio Natalia talking in this chapter. I guess that's a plus. :) Sorry, I feel like all my chapters suck in the action department, but enjoy! _

Natalia watched Eric and Horatio talk to the guy who was for sure the drug dealer. She wished she could be in on the conversation, but although she basically caught him, she couldn't do anything else. She wasn't a real CSI, this definitely wasn't her case, and there was nothing she could do except watch and listen.

"You know what that means," Horatio told the guy as the sounds of sirens began to get closer. "Your ride is here."

Natalia cracked a smile when she heard that. Her smile got even wider when he walked over to her and he took off his sunglasses. For him to take his sunglasses off for her…well, that must have meant something.

"You did a very good job today, ma'am," Horatio complimented Natalia.

Natalia kept that smile on her face, "Thank you, but I really didn't do anything. I just saw the guy and made sure you all were alerted. By the way, sorry I sounded so panicky when I called, but I figured he worked here in the morning, and I was afraid he was almost finished with this shift. I couldn't come back to the lab, because if he left and you had to wait until tomorrow…Valera said she didn't think Marisol would survive a night in jail, and I didn't want her to have to spend a night there."

Horatio tilted his head a little more, "That's very considerate of you. I meant to ask you, how did you know what the dealer looked like? That could turn ugly if Mrs. West knows you are the one who caught him."

Natalia knew it might, but for different reasons than Horatio was thinking. Natalia wanted to tell him anyway though, she had nothing to hide. "I saw him this morning when Valera was running the DNA from the bags. She told me to come over and look at his priors. I saw his face for a second as well as his priors."

"For about how long did you see his face?" Horatio asked.

Natalia frowned. Why was this important? "Why is this important?"

"It just is," Horatio told her evasively. "Please answer my question, ma'am."

"Ummm, around five seconds, I guess," Natalia said, thinking hard. She didn't know why this was important, but she knew Horatio wouldn't be asking unless it was relevant to something.

Horatio shook his head, "You saw his face for five seconds and could recognize him when he wasn't even standing right in front of you. That's incredible, for a person who wasn't trained. You would make an amazing CSI."

Natalia laughed, "Thanks, but I don't think I would. That was just luck."

"You must like our work somewhat," Horatio deduced. "I saw your record, and you majored in biology and forensic science."

Natalia shrugged, "I thought it was fun. I knew the biology would get me somewhere, and I wanted to take a lot of classes that I loved, which was why I took many forensic science classes."

"I still think you would make an amazing CSI," Horatio repeated. "Tell me why you don't agree."

"Well…" Natalia stalled. She couldn't tell him the real reason. "I'm definitely not as good as anyone on your team. I could never be as good as any of them."

"With Valera and one of the best CSI teams in the country as your teacher you could," Horatio argued. "I see it in your eyes. You want to, but there is something stopping you. If I am guessing correctly, there is more than one thing."

What could Natalia say? There were many things stopping her. Nick, Monica, her fear of making mistakes, etc. So many things, and yet she couldn't tell Horatio anything!

Horatio was still looking at her with considerate eyes. The sky blue pools looked helpful. She knew he wanted to help her, but she had brought all of this upon herself. She didn't know why, but suddenly, she wanted to answer him. There was just something about him that made her want to open up; maybe he could help her.

"Well," Natalia began, finally deciding she had to answer. "I never have been good at anything productive. I always make some kind of mistake and mess up everything. When Nick and I were…together, he always told me that the only thing I would ever be good for is making messes."

"He was wrong," Horatio whispered. "You should never listen to anyone who treats women like that. Believe me, I know. Women deserve to be respected and loved. What many men don't realize is that women may act tough, but they are fragile inside of that exterior."

Natalia began to open her mouth to tell him she was anything but fragile, but she stopped. He looked so intent on what he was saying. She wondered what had happened in his life that made him feel this way. He made her feel important, again. She loved how he could always make her feel like this. She knew he meant everything he said, because he wouldn't be saying it if he didn't.

For the first time, Horatio was looking right at her face. His eyes were connected with hers and she saw the look. Natalia definitely wasn't afraid of it right now. She had never heard him talk like that, she had never heard any guy talk like that, and she couldn't lie, it felt extremely nice. It made her feel special, and she felt like this was where she was supposed to be for the rest of her life.

Suddenly she remembered Monica and she couldn't look Horatio in the eyes anymore. "Thank you for the compliments. It really meant a lot. If I ever think about becoming a CSI, you will know."

The sentiment of the moment was over now, and Horatio nodded. "I hope you do, because I would definitely give you a job."

Natalia smiled quickly, "I would hope you will be the first one to give me a job."

Horatio cracked a little grin at her retreating form. "I will find out what is going on with you…no matter what." He put his sunglasses on and walked back to his Hummer. It was his plan to find out what Nick did to her, but first he had to get an innocent girl out of jail. It was just what he did.

_I hope you liked the talking. Review (I'm running out of clever ways to ask you to, so I'll just stick with this)! _


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: In earlier chapters._

_A/N: Okay…There are some lines from an episode in this chapter too, but I couldn't tell you which one. :) Thanks to Jessica237 for betaling this! I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!_

"Natalia," Eric called. "Horatio has requested your presence."

"What?" Natalia asked, completely confused.

"He wants you to come and watch interrogation," Eric clarified. "Monica is in there getting ready to question the drug dealer, and he has her stalled until you get there."

"I don't want to go in the room," Natalia exclaimed, suddenly panicking. If Monica saw her, well, she probably already knew that Natalia had caught him, but if Monica didn't, she was sure to know when Natalia strolled into the room.

"You don't have to," Eric told her, a bit confused about her sudden panic attack. "You can just watch from the two-way mirror again, if that is really what you want."

"Thank you," Natalia said. "I really feel more comfortable doing that."

Eric shrugged. "Okay. I'll call H and tell him."

Natalia was in the quiet room waiting for them to start. She smiled to herself. This would make a good case for her not wanting to be a CSI. Of course, the only reason she couldn't handle this was Monica, but they didn't know that.

"The rest of the stuff was bunk," the dealer admitted.

Natalia didn't think she had ever smiled wider in her life. The look on Monica's face was just priceless. Of course, that wasn't supposed to make her happy, but it did. She could tell it made Horatio happy as well.

"Mrs. West," Horatio said waiting for her to hand the case to him. Monica just sat there. She didn't want to admit it. She had been wrong, and Horatio had been right all along. She hated that!

"Mrs. West," Horatio repeated. He was not going to give up on this.

"Fine," Monica huffed. "Misdemeanor. It is out of the state's hands."

Horatio nodded at the police officer and the officer took the dealer out of the room. Horatio looked at Monica. "It's been nice working with you."

Natalia had to press her hands to her mouth to keep her from laughing out loud. She knew no one would hear her, but she didn't want to risk it. _Go Horatio!_ She thought to herself.

"This case may not be under investigation anymore, but your lab still is," Monica informed Horatio hotly. "There is something going on here and I'm going to find out what it is."

"We will be ready," Horatio challenged. Natalia watched him put his sunglasses on and turn to stare out the window as Monica walked out of the interrogation room. This was going to turn ugly for Natalia, she could just tell. Monica was going to be pestering her for information more often now.

Before Natalia knew what happened, she was in the interrogation room. What was she doing in here? She never should have stepped foot in this room! Horatio hadn't turned around, so maybe she could still get out of this. She slowly turned around, when Horatio's voice stopped her. "Was there something you wanted, Ma'am?"

Natalia squeezed her eyes shut and didn't turn around. "No."

"You are lying," Horatio said very nonchalant. "The tone of your voice," Horatio added as an after thought, answering her next question, which was going to be how he knew.

Natalia spun around. "Do we have to talk about it?"

"No, we don't," Horatio relented, still facing the window. "But it just occurred to me that while you wouldn't dare step foot in here while Monica was around, you had absolutely no problem opening the door and coming in now."

Natalia's eyes got wide. He sounded like he knew something. This could be bad. She finally made her vocal cords work. "Is there a point in what you're saying?" She suddenly gasped. This was her boss to whom she was talking. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry, Horatio! I honestly didn't mean for it to come out sounding like that."

Horatio turned around, and he had a small grin on his lips. Had Natalia ever seen that before? She was almost sure she hadn't. "I know," Horatio assured her. "I was just wondering if Monica scared you."

Natalia laughed, relieved. "The truth? She does, a bit, as long as she's not talking to me. If she ever did talk to me…I'm not sure I would be able to answer her." It wasn't completely a lie. Monica did scare Natalia to death, but she could talk to her.

Horatio nodded. "She can have that effect on people."

"I was just thinking," Natalia began. "Maybe I shouldn't do much with DNA. After all, your lab is under investigation, and I wouldn't want something I did to screw up the lab."

Horatio shook his head. "I won't have that. I refuse to believe you will screw anything up and I don't want you to believe that either. I want you to get that idea out of your head right now. You are an amazing DNA analyst; you know more about it than anyone I have ever known…except Valera and she doesn't count."

Natalia looked into his eyes, which didn't have the look in them…yet. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Ma'am…I am positive," Horatio assured her, putting his hands on his hips and turning to stare back out the window.

Later that night, Monica called Natalia and yelled at her. "I heard you were the one who caught the drug dealer. It was at that café, wasn't it? Don't bother lying to me, because I know it was. I don't know how you can expect me to trust you anymore. This is the kind of thing I want you tell me about first. If you see someone like that, you should tell me quickly! Especially if I'm involved in the case! You've got one more chance to do this right—another mistake and you're done!" The connection was broken off after that.

Natalia sighed beginning to pace around her room. She didn't care if Monica trusted her or not. Quite frankly, she just wanted that lab to trust her, and would prefer it if Monica didn't. She couldn't quit though, not yet, because then she would have to tell the lab what she was. A snitch! She hated the sound of that; she hated that's exactly how everyone in the lab would see her if she came clean.

Natalia had definitely gotten too close to the people she was supposed to be spying on, and was paying for it now. The FBI had taught her not to do that, and she screwed that up as well!

Natalia had thought she was only good at sneaking around, spying and lying. She suddenly realized something. She was messing up the only thing at which she had been good. Where did this leave her? What was she supposed to do now? Natalia flopped down on her bed. Why was she such a big screw up, and why couldn't she get anything right? Nick's words came floating back to her. _You are only good for creating messes that someone else has to clean up eventually. That is all you will ever be good for, bitch!_ Natalia never felt like that was true until right now.

As soon as she decided Nick was right, Horatio's words came floating back to her. _He was wrong you know. You should never listen to anyone who treats women like that._ Who was right? To whom should she listen? As much as she wanted to listen to Horatio, she knew Nick was right.

Suddenly she heard the sound of her front door being kicked open forcibly. She knew of only two people who opened front doors that way and both of them were not good options. The SWAT team and Nick. The SWAT team could be here from Horatio's lab because she was tattling to Monica, and right now she hoped for that option, because if it was Nick, he was violating the restraining order, he was drunk, and he would make sure she didn't live to tell on him.

"Where are you?" Nick called. "I know you're in here."

Natalia closed her eyes refusing to let the tears fall. She wanted to hide, but she had not scoped out this house for the best hiding places yet, she didn't think she would need them in this house. After all, if he killed her, at least then she wouldn't have to tell the lab anything. She wouldn't have to worry about messing up everything and Monica and Horatio wouldn't be mad at her.

"There you are," Nick said delightedly as he walked into her bedroom. He threw her on the floor and began to kick her. Natalia knew more was coming, but for the first time in her life, she didn't have the energy to fight back, and she didn't even want to try.

_ How's that for action? And is that a cliffhanger? I think it is! Exciting, isn't it? Haha. Okay, well, you should definitely review! What is going to happen to Natalia…aren't you wondering…I know I am. Review!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I don't own. _

_A/N: Oh, my gosh guys! Friends, readers, reviewers, I'm so sorry I've been MIA for the last week almost! My Internet thought it would be funny and not work for that long! And to leave you on such a cliffy as well! I'm so sorry! Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing and now…on to the story…hopefully you haven't forgotten it or me! Enjoy!_

"H, I don't care what you say, I'm worried," Eric told Horatio. "She isn't answering her phone."

"Natalia hasn't been taught to keep her phone on at all times yet," Horatio reasoned, to keep himself from getting too worried as well.

"But her phone is on," Eric pointed out, reasonably. "She just isn't answering it."

Horatio couldn't do anything but relent. "Fine, I will meet you at her house. But do not go inside yet! We will decide what to do when we both arrive."

"Alright," Eric agreed. "Let's just hurry!"

Meanwhile, Natalia was still getting beaten by Nick. She still wasn't fighting, but Horatio's voice was ringing in her head. _What men don't understand is women are fragile…fragile…fragile_ Natalia remembered how offended she was when he said that because she didn't want anyone to think she was fragile, and here she was acting like this. She was going to fight…the only problem was Nick was too far ahead of her now.

While she was thinking, Nick had decided he wanted some fun. He had begun to unbutton her shirt and unzip her pants. Her pants were unbuttoned and unzipped when he brought his finger to her face and traced the outline of her lips. Her face took on a disgusted look and she took his finger into her mouth. She pretended to be pleasuring him, and when he least expected it; she bit down on his finger…hard!

Nick yelled out in pain and he kicked her again. This time, being as weak as she was, her whole body moved, and she barely missed hitting her head on her bedside table.

While Nick was nursing his finger, Natalia got an idea. She quietly and stealthily pulled on the cord of her lamp and it fell into her waiting hands. She hoped this would knock him out until she could figure out what to do. She felt her phone vibrating again, but she still couldn't answer it.

As soon as Nick turned around, she flung the lamp at him with what little strength she had left. The lamp had the desired effect in knocking him out quickly. He was so still that Natalia thought she might have killed him. She tried to walk over to him, but her body collapsed before she even got up all the way. She cursed her body and her legs, which weren't strong enough to hold her upright. She finally began to crawl over to him and when she reached him she tried to feel for his pulse. Before she could get a good reading of it, she couldn't hold out any longer, and everything went black as she slipped into unconsciousness as well.

After Natalia knocked Nick out, Horatio and Eric arrived outside her house. They looked around and did not see anything that would indicate trouble. Nick had been smart enough to park his car three blocks down; and Nick had lots of practice in kicking in doors without breaking the hinges.

Although everything was quiet, Eric couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "Something just doesn't feel right, H."

"I have that same feeling, Eric," Horatio whispered. "But we can't just go barging into her house."

"We don't have to barge," Eric suggested. "We could enter quietly."

"One of us could maybe manage to enter quietly," Horatio mused, rolling the idea around in his head. Normally, he was the master of all plans, but when it came to entering one of his employee's houses, especially Natalia's, his mind went blank.

"Is everything okay?" Eric asked, snapping Horatio out of his thoughts.

"Of course," Horatio scoffed. "Okay, here is what we are going to do." Horatio knew his plan may not be the best one, but he didn't have anything else, and they had to do this to erase this feeling of dread they both were holding.

It was decided that Horatio would enter the house as quietly as he could. He would look around for Natalia and as soon as he saw she was safe, he would come back out and they would leave just as quietly as they came. Little did they know their leaving would not be nearly as quiet as their coming had been.  
As Horatio walked into the house, he found it strange that the door was unlocked. He also thought it was much too quiet in this house. Unless she was sleeping (which seemed unlikely, it was only 7:30) something had to be wrong.

Horatio looked through every room and not seeing her, he began to become a tad panicked. He refused to let his crime infected imagination run off with him yet though. He told himself he had not checked every room and for all he knew she could be the kind to go to sleep incredibly early.

When it became obvious that the only room he had not checked was her bedroom, he became increasingly nervous. He didn't want to just look into her bedroom, what if she was fine? Would that seem creepy? He thought so, but on the chance that she wasn't fine, which was growing by the second, he forced himself to look.

Seeing her unconscious on the floor beside her ex-husband, he almost lost it. "Eric!" he shouted, hoping Eric would hear him. Eric poked his head inside the door and not seeing Horatio, Eric ran into the house.

When Eric got into the bedroom as well, he wanted to punch his fist into a wall. "We should have barged."

"Call rescue," Horatio barked. "She has a pulse, but it doesn't feel very promising."

After Eric called rescue, he went over to Nick. "What about him?"

Horatio had a disgusted look on his face. "I hope he is dead."

Eric had to check. "Sorry, H, but he isn't dead yet."

Horatio looked around to make sure no one was near except Eric. "What if he accidentally dies before the ambulance gets here."

Eric's eyes got wide. This didn't sound like Horatio. Sure, it sounded like something Eric might suggest and not truly mean, but never Horatio. Eric didn't know how to answer that. "Umm…" Luckily, Eric was saved from saying much else because the sirens of the ambulances could be heard.

"Too late," Horatio observed, stating the obvious.

"Sorry," Eric apologized, not really very sorry. "We could tell the EMT's that he's already dead."

"They wouldn't believe us," Horatio assumed. "I'm sure they would check for a pulse themselves." Taking his hand off Natalia's weak pulse to feel Nick's he frowned. "His pulse is much stronger than hers. That doesn't seem fair."

"What happened?" an EMT questioned as many others rushed into the room.

"We don't know," Eric stated.

"But we can guess," Horatio added under his breath.

Eric was thankful the EMT's didn't hear Horatio. They were too busy doing their job. Eric knew these people were very skilled at handling people who were in life-threatening situations, but also knew that even the best could mess up once and a while. He only hoped this would be a time in which they didn't. He didn't know what he would do if something happened to Natalia. In essence, it was all his fault, because he didn't alert Horatio earlier.

Horatio, on the other hand, was sure it was entirely his fault. He didn't know why yet, but he felt extremely guilty. Maybe if he had searched farther down the block he wouldn't have been so afraid to enter her house, maybe if he had done this, maybe if he had done that—

"H, do you want to go with her?" Eric asked, as they were getting ready to load Natalia into the back of an ambulance.

"Yes," Horatio immediately responded. He looked at Eric. "Make sure they don't try to stick _that man_ back here as well before we leave. He doesn't deserve to be in the same ambulance as her."

Eric smiled at the sincerity in Horatio's voice. "I will make sure they don't."

Horatio put his sunglasses on, out of habit. "Eric…you are a good man."

_ Well, that's that chapter. At least you know she was found. Now, how bad is she hurt? I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to see. Unless my Internet spazzes out again, I shouldn't leave you hanging for so long again…and I really am sorry about that. Review! _


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I don't own._

_A/N: Here is the next installment. Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing. I hope you enjoy!_

If the back of the ambulance was hectic, it was nothing like the hospital. Many nurses, doctors and specialists buzzed around Natalia trying to help her, and did a very good job of keeping Horatio in the dark. Although Horatio hated being in the back of ambulances period, he almost wished he was back there now. At least he knew what was going on there, he could protect her. Now, he was completely helpless, and he paced around the waiting room getting many annoyed looks from the desk managers.

"Horatio!" Alexx cried upon arriving. "What happened to that poor girl?"

"Her ex-husband," Horatio began, but Alexx stopped him.

"Oh, that poor baby," Alexx lamented.

"She can't end up on your table, Alexx," Horatio started, but his throat began to close up and he was unable to finish.

Alexx looked into his eyes and saw emotions in them that she had never seen before, fear and something that looked an awful lot like love. "She won't," Alexx assured him.

"They won't tell me what is going on in there," Horatio told Alexx.

Alexx smiled confidently at Horatio. "Don't worry. I'll find out for you. Just sit down and relax."

Horatio didn't know how Alexx expected him to do that, but he sat down anyway. After Alexx walked away, Eric showed up in the waiting room. Not long after him Calleigh came running in and Ryan very soon after her.

Calleigh could tell something was up with Horatio, and she didn't try to talk to him. She also knew enough to know Horatio was not going to be a comfort source for them this time. She was the second in command, so she took it upon herself to comfort Eric and Ryan in this time of crisis. Although she felt as though she should be over with Horatio, she frankly didn't think she could handle him. She could tell there was something deeper in Horatio's feelings than just concern for an employee, and she knew she couldn't handle that at this point in time. She could handle concern for a co-worker because that was what she was feeling as well. She felt guilty because Horatio had always been with her when she needed comfort, and she couldn't even be with him when he needed her.

Calleigh finally couldn't take it anymore, and she had to try something. She walked very cautiously over to him and she softly called his name. "Horatio."

He didn't even lift his face from its place in his hands. "You shouldn't be over here."

"Why not?" She whispered. She felt that talking too loud would break this man into pieces.

"Eric and Ryan need you right now," Horatio told her, stating truth.

Calleigh shook her head even though he couldn't see her. "You need me more than they do. They have each other. You have no one."

"They will just fight amongst themselves," Horatio argued, trying again to get her to leave him alone right now. Why he didn't want her here he couldn't understand.

He may not have known, but Calleigh knew. "Feeling something is okay. It makes you human. Showing your emotions is more than okay. Letting someone share those emotions with you makes it more bearable. Natalia is going to be fine. She is a strong woman, and unfortunately she has been through all this many times."

Horatio finally looked up at Calleigh with red-rimmed eyes. "It was awful. I was so sure she was dead. I was sure it was my fault because I didn't check her bedroom first. If I had just checked further down the block I would have seen his car. If I had done something, anything."

Calleigh's heart almost broke hearing this. Horatio was always so strong and composed. She knew he felt something deeper for Natalia, and although his eyes were red, she knew he was holding back all the tears, because he was not the type to cry in a hospital. Home alone maybe, but sharing all these emotions at once was a big step for him.

Calleigh felt tears come to her eyes, but she blinked them back and sat down beside him. She had to be strong. "There was nothing you could have done. You didn't know he was going to come after her tonight. You figured she would call if she need something like the rest of us do. You just forgot she was new to the team, she doesn't know you would do anything for any one of us…especially her."

"But I knew how scared she was of _him_ the first time I saw them interacting," Horatio lamented. "I should have told her to let me know if she ever needed anything. Better yet, I should have thrown him out the nearest window when I had the chance. I could have told IAB he just happened to trip over his own two feet. That stupid—"

"Horatio!" Calleigh exclaimed, interrupting him, knowing the next word that was going to come out of his mouth was one he would regret later. "Has anyone taken pictures of Natalia, of the house? She is going to need those pictures later when IAB tries to question her. You know her ex is going to try to make it look like her fault and we can't let IAB believe him and not her just because we are worried right now."

"No," Horatio said, slumping back down. "I even forgot to act the Lieutenant CSI that I am!"

Calleigh jumped up from the seat. "Well, I'll get Ryan to take pictures of the house right now. We can't take pictures of Natalia until she is more aware of things. Make sure you tell me when that is and I will be here to take the pictures. Don't worry. Everything will be fine and more importantly, she will be fine."

Horatio wanted to believe that, he really did. He had believed it once. Once, he believed everything would be okay. Way back then, the doctor had come in and shattered his belief. Not until he heard it from a man dressed in a white coat would he believe it. Not until he got to see her for his own eyes would he really believe it. Not until he heard it from her own mouth would he really _really _believe it. As Horatio quickly glanced at the clock on the wall, he noticed how long it had been. It had been too long! He firmly believed that she would never be fine, and he suddenly felt like nothing would ever really be okay again.

_ Hmm…what is going to happen to Natalia! I know, I'm so mean. We should find out in the next chapter though. If you are still reading, thanks so much. If you are still reviewing…thanks even more! I hope you are still liking it. Review! _


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I don't own_

_A/N: And now, we finally find out if Natalia is okay! If you are still reading, thanks! Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing. Enjoy!_

Horatio saw a doctor walk towards the waiting room, but he didn't want to hear what he had to say. Alexx came up behind the doctor and smiled at him. "Relax Horatio, it's good news."

"It's very good news," the doctor agreed. "Ms. Boa Vista had a few broken bones and many, many cuts and bruises, but she didn't have to have surgery. She had no internal bleeding, and while she has a few bruised ribs that is all the internal damage."

"Is she awake?" Eric whispered.

"Yes," the doctor told them. "You may go in to see her one at a time, but don't stay too long."

The doctor began to walk off and Alexx looked at Calleigh, Eric and Horatio. "You should really be smiling now. Natalia is going to be fine. She is awake and waiting to see you. You go in and see her and I'm going to call Ryan now."

The co-workers looked at each other. Without a word said between any of them, they decided that Eric should go in first and Calleigh should go last since she was going to be taking the dreaded pictures.

Calleigh glanced over at Horatio and noticed how sad he still looked. She waited a few minutes and then spoke. "She is fine. The doctor said so himself. You really should look happier."

Horatio shook his head. "Not until I hear it from her will I really believe it."

"What are you going to do?" Calleigh asked. "Ask her if she's okay and demand a truthful answer? She will tell you she's fine. She doesn't want anyone to worry."

At that moment, Ryan rushed in and Eric came out of the room. Ryan went next and Eric sat down beside Calleigh.

"How did she look?" Calleigh asked, almost afraid of the answer. She had to take pictures, and she wanted to know if she could do it without tearing up, or even crying.

Eric sighed. "Pretty bad. I want to find that man and put him away for life."

"We can't put him away because he violated a restraining order. That doesn't even constitute a year, does it?" Calleigh rationalized.

"No, but an attempted murder sentence is much longer than a year," Horatio whispered as Ryan came out and began to walk toward the room. "We can put him away for that."

Horatio took a couple of deep breaths before entering the room. He wanted to prepare himself for what he would see, and he didn't want to cry. He had managed to hold it in and he had no intentions of letting the dam break any time soon. He quickly put his sunglasses on so Natalia wouldn't see his red-rimmed eyes. Even though he hadn't been crying, he couldn't will the redness away and he didn't want Natalia to think he was a weak man. Why he didn't want her to think this he wasn't ready to admit, even to himself.

Natalia saw him behind her curtain, and could tell by the stance and the height that it wasn't Calleigh and the only one who hadn't been in to see her yet was Horatio. "You know Horatio, it usually works better if you step around the curtain," Natalia joked.

Horatio complied and Natalia laughed. "Are the hospital lights too bright for you? Or are your sunglasses just comfortable."

"Are you okay?" Horatio asked, wanting an answer to that question before he did anything else.

"I'm sure I look pretty bad, but I don't _feel _bad, if that's what you are asking," Natalia replied. "I'm a little…used to this by now."

Horatio tried to hold in a gasp. "How much did he put you in the hospital before this?"

Natalia shrugged. "I don't really know. I stopped keeping a count. But I come out fine every time."

"If you stopped keeping a count then it was too many. Once is too many," Horatio mused, but Natalia knew he was talking to himself.

He suddenly looked up at her and began speaking to her taking his sunglasses off his face, not caring about the redness (that was not as pronounced as it was earlier). "I can't help but think you are acting too nonchalant for the gravity of this situation," Horatio observed.

"Not nonchalant," Natalia corrected. "It just doesn't bother me much anymore. I know I will be fine. It bothered me the first time, even the second and the third, but after that, and after being fine after all those times, I can hardly get worked up over something like this."

Calleigh's accented voice suddenly appeared out of the shadows. "Why did you let him hurt you for so long?" She gasped quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in, but visiting hours are almost over and I really need to get this done."

Natalia noticed the camera in her hands and cringed. "Do you really have to take pictures of this? It's so humiliating."

Calleigh apologetically said yes at the same time as Horatio forcibly said no.

Calleigh and Natalia's heads both snapped toward Horatio. Natalia had pretty much meant it as a rhetorical question and Calleigh couldn't believe he had said no.

"Horatio!" Calleigh exclaimed. "We need these pictures or else Nick could convince IAB he got the bad end of the deal. If he does that, he might not have to go to jail."

"We can convince them otherwise," Horatio argued. "If Natalia doesn't want the pictures we won't take them."

Calleigh just blinked a few times, still shocked at Horatio's point of view on the subject. "Horatio, it's okay," Natalia assured him. "I know you need the pictures. The question was pretty much rhetorical anyway. I'm all right with these pictures…as long as you leave."

Horatio dropped his eyes to study her face. "Are you absolutely sure? Positively sure?"

Natalia smiled and nodded her head. "I am absolutely positively sure. I'm fine."

Horatio shot a glance at Calleigh that Natalia couldn't make out and then walked out of the room.

Calleigh just shook her head. "He would kill me if he knew I told you this…but you do know he is definitely in love with you, right?"

Natalia shrugged. "I guessed there was something there, but I have been ignoring it."

"Why?" Calleigh asked incredulously.

"Oh listen to who's talking, Ms. I-have-been-in-love-with-Eric-for-seven-years-but-refuse-to-express-my-feelings," Natalia countered.

Calleigh's face got incredibly red and decided to move the subject of the conversation to safer ground, for her anyway. "I really do need to take those pictures. They are going to kick me out of here in five minutes."

Natalia smiled, knowing Calleigh was purposely changing the subject. "Go ahead," Natalia agreed with a sigh.

Natalia felt uncomfortable without any words being exchanged, so she decided to answer Calleigh's earlier question. "He always promised it would never happen again. That is why I kept letting him do this to me. First it just happened when he was drunk and he would always be so sweet and apologetic in the morning and I believed him…I really did. The first couple of times. It was when he started doing it just because he got mad, that was when I thought maybe he wasn't really sorry. He would always apologize though, no matter what, and I was always sure he would never do it again."

"What finally made you realize he wasn't going to change?" Calleigh asked in a hushed voice. She couldn't believe Natalia was telling her all this information without a second thought.

Natalia shrugged. "I don't really remember. I just know that I was getting sick of constantly being hurt. A couple of my sisters decided to try to knock some sense into me as well. I think a combination of all that made me realize that spending the better part of my life in a hospital because of my husband was not something I wanted to do. Sometimes though, you just want something to work so badly that you convince yourself that it will. If you cook dinner better, if you wash his clothes cleaner, if you look prettier, if you change everything about you, maybe it will work. After all, he hurts you to teach you a lesson or because you deserve it; at least that's what they always say. After hearing it so much, you begin to believe it.

"My youngest sister, Anya, told me she didn't even recognize me anymore. She said I had changed so much for him and he was still hurting me. She finally made me realize that no matter what I did, it wasn't going to please him. So I quit trying. I got a restraining order and then got a divorce," Natalia concluded. Suddenly she remembered something. "Did he die? From the lamp?"

Calleigh shook her head, "Sorry, but unfortunately he is still alive."

"Crap," Natalia muttered, under her breath.

"But," Calleigh continued. "We are going to give him two life sentences, put him in jail and make sure he can never get out on good behavior."

"Violating a restraining order doesn't even get him a year in jail, does it?" Natalia asked. "No judge or jury is going to agree to that."

"They will if we charge him with attempted murder," Calleigh told her. "And we have pictures to prove he was trying to kill you," Calleigh said as she snapped another picture.

"He'll say he was drunk, he was insane, he didn't realize what he was doing," Natalia rattled off quickly. "You will never get him in jail. He always manages to get out of everything."

Calleigh looked up at Natalia and smiled. "You've never had Horatio defend you. Besides, you seem so educated in what Nick will say, just tell Horatio everything you think Nick will say, and then we can think of ways to fight it."

"There is another huge problem with this," Natalia told her, whispering now.

"What?" Calleigh asked.

"You are going to have to put me away for attempted murder as well," Natalia stated, with her head down low. "I threw that lamp at him with the intent of killing him. If I hadn't collapsed when I did, I was going to go into the kitchen, get a knife and put it in his chest and finish the job."

"Why?" Calleigh asked again, a bit too nonchalant for Natalia's liking.

"Because he was going to kill me if I didn't get to him first," Natalia answered.

"That's practically the definition of self defense. Nobody can argue that you deserve to go to jail for defending yourself. If they do, Horatio might hurt them. Trust me, we aren't going to let you go to jail, no matter what," Calleigh assured her. "Horatio won't let you. In fact, he was talking about hurting the hospital staff if they wouldn't let him stay here tonight."

Natalia pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "I've never seen him like this."

"Neither have I," Calleigh concurred. "And that's saying something, because I have worked with him much longer than you have."

Calleigh voice suddenly changed, "Now, I just need the results from the…"

"He didn't rape me, Calleigh," Natalia assured her. "They didn't do a kit, or if they did I didn't consent or know about it. I passed out after him, and I'm sure he didn't rape me. I would know if he did. Even before, he always wanted me to be awake for that part."

Calleigh's face took on a pained look again. "I'm so so sorry."

Natalia shrugged, "So am I, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Horatio and Eric found me right?"

Calleigh nodded in response.

"They know it's not their fault, right?" Natalia questioned. She wanted to make sure they knew that, because it wasn't. She knew that they couldn't have stopped Nick. "They couldn't have stopped him. They only way he would've quit is if he was knocked out, or completely unable to move, which is why I had to throw the lamp."

Calleigh smiled at Natalia, "I think it would do them good to hear that."

"I'll tell Horatio if he comes back," Natalia promised. "Would you tell Eric? If he doesn't believe you I'll tell him myself when I see him next."

"I'd almost bet anything that Horatio will be back," Calleigh remarked. "He can be pretty intimidating when he wants to be, and everyone who doesn't know him is scared of him. I bet those nurses want me to come out of here just so they don't have to see him anymore."

Natalia smiled again. "We really have to talk more."

"I agree," Calleigh said. "Why haven't we?"

Natalia looked down sheepishly. "I have been afraid that you were going to shoot me. Ryan told me you would if I made a wrong move."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "I'm most definitely not going to shoot you. But Horatio might shoot me if I don't get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow."

True to her word, three seconds later Horatio walked into the room. "I was going to shoot her if she stayed in here much longer."

Horatio was completely in the dark about why Natalia burst out laughing at that. She continued to laugh, and Horatio decided he would never understand it, so he stopped trying. He was content to sit in the chair beside her bed and just listen to her laugh.

_And Natalia is okay! Well, as okay as anyone can be expected to be after such an ordeal! If you read…even if you didn't like it, please review! Thanks friends. _


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: Don't own. _

_A/N: Here's the next installment. Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing…enjoy!_

"We have been over this thousands of times," Natalia complained. "And I still don't see how a jury is going to agree to let Nick spend two life sentences in jail."

"They will," Horatio promised.

"How do you know?" Natalia asked.

Horatio fought back the urge to take one of her hands in his. "I just do, Natalia. I have one of the best judges, and _he_ doesn't have a very good attorney. You will come out of this fine…just like you do everything else with _that man_. You are a very strong woman."

Suddenly Calleigh burst into the room. "Nick just got out of holding!"

"What?" Horatio roared.

Natalia jumped at the tone of Horatio's voice, and Calleigh just stared at him for a second.

"Sorry," Horatio apologized, in a much quieter tone. "How did he get out of there?"

"The state attorney," Calleigh whispered, knowing Horatio would be very mad at that.

"Monica West?" Natalia asked.

"The one and only; the one who rules this lab," Calleigh said sarcastically. Noticing Horatio's face she added, "But she is about to get a taste of who really runs the lab."

Natalia nodded her agreement when she noticed Horatio's face. Monica had just stepped into view and he looked very angry. An angry Horatio was not a person anyone wanted to deal with, but it looked like Monica was going to have to deal with him.

Seconds later, Horatio walked out of the room and Calleigh smiled. "I told you. I have a feeling it is not going to work though. He is a very intimidating man, but she doesn't let him get away with much. And he doesn't have anything to prove Nick needs to stay in holding. Those pictures haven't been developed yet, and they won't get developed until tomorrow."

Natalia's eyes widened. "So, he will be out of jail for a whole night?"

Calleigh nodded, but didn't say anything. She too realized that this was a big deal, and Calleigh didn't think police protection would be enough to keep Natalia safe tonight. She didn't know what they were going to do.

"You will have to stay with one of us tonight," Calleigh remarked, not realizing what she was thinking until after it came out of her mouth.

Natalia just stared at her. "Why? Can't I get police protection or something?"

"You can, but I don't know if Horatio will allow it," Calleigh stated truthfully. "Also, I'm not sure it would be enough. Anyway, it doesn't matter, because Horatio will insist on you staying with him or me."

"Pros and cons of both of you," Natalia questioned, knowing Calleigh would give her a truthful answer.

"Pros of me: I have tons of guns scattered all over my house, especially in my bedroom and living room. I also have amazing aim," Calleigh began.

"Cons with me: We don't really know each other that well, and it might be weird for me to hover. You are definitely welcome to stay with me, but…"

"Continue," Natalia prompted.

Calleigh smiled, "Cons of Horatio: I'm not sure he would leave you alone. He would be very, very overprotective, and that could get annoying. He is very big on the whole hovering aspect.

"Pros of Horatio: He always manages to appear out of nowhere when someone needs him. If he is angry enough, and trust me, Nick coming after you would make him furious, and picks up a gun…he _never _misses," Calleigh concluded.

Natalia just sat in the chair for a minute, thinking. She thought she might want to stay with Horatio, but what would happen?

Then again, she wasn't really sure she wanted to stay with Horatio either. It wasn't so much the annoying thing, because she was sure that wouldn't be a problem. It was just the sexual tension that was always present between them. Sometimes it was crazy high, like that night in the hospital, and sometimes it was almost non-existent, like when he was explaining something from a case to her.

Calleigh could see Natalia's inner struggle going on, and could almost hear how hard her brain was working. She knew how torn Natalia was, and she knew it was more than the question of with whom would she be safer. It was everything with Horatio and Natalia, and how they felt about each other.

Even though this wasn't the problem, Calleigh felt she had to say something. "If it was me, honestly, I'd feel safer with Horatio."

Natalia just looked at him outside talking to Monica and smiled at how into all this he was getting. "He's really into this, isn't he?" Natalia mused.

"He's really into keeping you safe," Calleigh contradicted quietly.

Natalia sighed and looked up at Calleigh. "You really think I'd be safer with Horatio?"

Calleigh nodded. "I have no doubt of it. He would give up his life before he would let Nick threaten yours."

Frankly, all this emotion scared Natalia. Everything she felt for Horatio and everything she was sure he felt for her scared her. She wasn't sure why, but it made Natalia very nervous, but her subconscious mind seemed to be making decisions for her, because she felt her head moving up and down in an agreeing motion.

"Don't worry," Calleigh comforted her. "It's just one night. Besides, you two might get a chance to talk about what is going on between you both."

"I don't know if I want to know," Natalia argued.

"I know," Calleigh agreed. "There comes a point in your life when you realize that you aren't going to live forever. Mine came when I saw you in the hospital. That could have been any one of us, and I couldn't live without knowing how my life would go had I not expressed my feelings. Therefore, when the time is right, I'm going to talk to Eric."

Natalia knew she was right, but couldn't bring herself to admit it just yet. "Tell me how it goes."

Calleigh nodded, and noticed Horatio coming back towards the room. "Judging by the look on his face, he is going to demand you stay with one of us. I'm actually going to be quite surprised when he mentions himself, because before this I was positive he never went home."

Natalia felt herself smile, and before she knew it, she was laughing along with Calleigh. This woman just had something about her that made Natalia feel a million times better when she was feeling awful. Suddenly she wasn't worried about tonight, and she felt as if everything would be okay.

_ That's is for this chapter. What will happen with Natalia spending the night at Horatio's house? I guess only the next chapter tomorrow will tell. Review please! _


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: Earlier chapters. _

_ A/N: And Natalia's night with Horatio begins. What in the world will happen? I guess you will just have to read and find out! Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing! Enjoy! _

"I'm perfectly fine with sleeping on your couch, Horatio," Natalia protested for the millionth time. "It looks extremely comfortable."

"I want you to sleep in my bed," Horatio continued to argue. "I don't want you sleeping out here."

"Why?" Natalia exclaimed. "I've already invaded your house for tonight and I don't want to invade your bed as well."

"Technically you're not invading it if I invited you," Horatio pointed out reasonably. "Besides, in case you haven't noticed this big picture window in here, you could be seen from the street."

"It's dark, Horatio. No one is going to see in here unless they press their nose against the window and I think I'd notice that." Natalia asked. "Besides, it's more dangerous for you to sleep out here anyway. You have put tons of people in jail; what if they decide they want revenge on you?"

Horatio shook his head, "It's dark, Natalia. What else did you say?"

"Okay, okay," Natalia relented. "Maybe that wasn't the best argument, but give me time and I'll come up with another one."

"You don't have that time," Horatio reminded her. "It's eleven-thirty and we are both due to be in at nine tomorrow morning."

Natalia rolled her eyes, but really didn't have any more arguments. She had to give in to his request. "Fine. But just know that I feel extremely guilty about this."

Horatio shrugged, "If I didn't sleep on the couch I would be feeling extremely guilty."

Natalia rolled her eyes again, walked into his bedroom and shut the door behind her. Horatio watched her and then smiled as she shut the door. If she slept in his bed, would his sheets smell like her tomorrow night? That thought brought another one of those rare smiles to his lips.

Natalia had been lying in Horatio's bed for at least two hours and she couldn't figure out why she couldn't fall asleep. It was a very comfortable bed and it smelled like him, which only helped. If she was so comfortable and content, why couldn't she fall asleep? What was worse, she couldn't stop thinking about Nick.

As she thought more about it, she didn't believe that argument she'd given Horatio about the picture window. If someone really wanted to see inside they could. She was worried that Nick would figure out she was staying with Horatio. She knew Nick still wanted to kill her, and quite frankly she was scared. She was also a little scared for Horatio's safety as well. She knew how much Nick hated him, and she didn't want anything to happen to Horatio because of her. _It's really too bad your knight in shining armor isn't here to save you now._ Nick's words echoed in her head and she couldn't lie still anymore. She got up and began to pace.

This was too much for her. She began to think about everything that was going wrong in her life. Monica was still pestering her, Nick was out of jail for tonight, Nick wanted to kill her and Horatio, and worst of all, she was in love with Horatio, the one man on whom Natalia was supposed to be spying. She'd thought working in this crime lab was going to be one of the best times of her life. Wrong again!

Before Natalia could think to stop her tears, they were freely falling. She hated herself for being so weak. She never cried, even when Nick was hurting her. All those years when she was with Nick, she learned to never cry because she would get hurt even more, physically and mentally. Here she was doing the one thing that she trained her body never to do. Why couldn't she stop this now?

After at least thirty minutes, her tears slowly began to stop. Now all she needed was some Tylenol for this headache she could feel coming on in the very near future. She quietly opened the door of Horatio's bedroom to go to the kitchen, since she didn't see anything useful in his medicine cabinet. He would be the one to put his medicine somewhere other than the bathroom medicine cabinet.

Natalia figured she could pull it off, getting the Tylenol and getting back into his room without him ever knowing. The only problem was that Natalia was not familiar with his house. She had seen that obnoxious end table that was blocking half of his kitchen door when she walked into his house, and had almost tripped over it then. She forgot about it now and completely tripped over it, bringing it to the floor beside her and making a huge racket in the process.

Horatio's eyes popped open and he jumped up turning the on the light. He heard the noise and he thought the worst. When he saw Natalia lying on the floor beside his end table he actually began to laugh, and found it hard to stop the laughter. Natalia sat up, smiled and willed the redness in her cheeks to disappear.

"You know, this really is a safety hazard," Natalia joked.

"Most people don't walk around the house in the dark," Horatio choked out, between laughs.

"Well, when I'm trying not to wake someone up, I do," Natalia said.

"Falling over the table pretty much crushed that idea," Horatio pointed out, still smiling. "What were you doing out here in the dark anyway?" Horatio had the time to take a close look at her face, and if he wasn't mistaken her eyes looked a little red. He decided not to mention anything about it…yet.

"I wanted to get some Tylenol," Natalia said, not feeling the need to hide that.

"But you didn't fall over the end table until you got out here," Horatio remarked, a little confused.

Natalia smiled, "Not for that, but now I'll probably need it for that as well. You would be the one to not put the reasonable medicine in your medicine cabinet and then booby trap your house for anyone who tries to look for it."

Horatio rolled his eyes, "Why did you need the medicine?"

Natalia sighed. She sort of felt like she was being interrogated, without the intimidating looks and low voice of course. "I just felt the beginnings of a headache coming on, that's all."

"Why did you feel a headache?" Horatio asked.

"What are you trying to do? Interrogate me?" Natalia groaned, frustrated with him.

Horatio raised an eyebrow at her, "If you are going to roam around my house in the middle of the night and wake me up to take my Tylenol, I'd like to know why."

"I'm scared," Natalia whispered amazed that she was actually admitting that. "I'm scared for you. I just couldn't live with myself if I woke up tomorrow and found you dead because of Nick. Because of me." She couldn't tell Horatio that she was scared for herself as well. That would make her seem weak, _fragile_, and that was something she refused to be.

Horatio looked at Natalia and put out his hand to help her up from the floor. "I don't want you to worry about that," Horatio told her. "I will be fine. I'm always fine."

Horatio looked at her eyes closely. When she saw what he was doing she quickly looked away, but Horatio had seen what he needed. "You aren't just afraid for me. You are afraid for yourself. I can see the fear in your eyes and that's nothing of which you should be ashamed. _That man_ is an awful person. You wouldn't be human if you weren't a little afraid."

Natalia finally looked back into his eyes and saw the sincerity there. He wasn't going to laugh at her for crying and he wasn't going to think she was weak. Suddenly she found her mouth moving before she could stop it. She told him everything that had happened while he was asleep, leaving out the part about Monica, of course.

After she was finished talking, Horatio just walked over to his cabinet and got the Tylenol and a glass of water. He gave it to her and she took it obediently. After that, he took her back into his room and tucked her under the covers. He then lay on top of the covers right next to her.

Natalia gasped when she first figured out what he was doing, but suddenly realized that this was Horatio. She shouldn't be scared of him. She turned around to face him, "You are going to get cold. You can lie under the covers if you would like. After all, this is your bed."

He looked into her eyes closely again, but saw nothing but sincerity this time. Slowly he got under the covers and she turned back onto her side, facing away from him.

Natalia very, very slowly started scooting over closer to Horatio. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her small frame and pulled her in closer to him. Natalia smiled and let out a huge breath when she felt how accepting he was of this. She also couldn't believe how safe she felt with his arms wrapped around her.

Before five minutes had even passed, she felt herself getting very sleepy. She didn't know if it was from the Tylenol, the crying or the general safeness she felt, all she knew was she was going to be able to sleep now.

Natalia wasn't sure if she dreamed it, but right before she fell asleep she heard Horatio whisper, "Don't worry. I will never let _that man_ hurt you ever again…I promise."

_ And the night with Horatio ends. What does this mean for their relationship? Anything? Let's hope so. Please review!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: If you don't know by now…_

_ A/N: And now, the court case. Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing…enjoy!_

"I slept with Horatio," Natalia said, giving Calleigh a recap of the night spent with Horatio.

"What?" Calleigh asked, completely shocked.

Natalia wrinkled her forehead, "I don't understand why you're so shocked. We just-Whoa! No, that's not what I meant at all! I mean, we slept in the same bed."

"I'm assuming it wasn't Horatio's idea…" Calleigh trailed off, hoping Natalia would feel the need to supply some more information. Calleigh figured Natalia was dying to tell someone and she wasn't in the DNA lab right now because she didn't want Valera to hear and spread the story all over the lab.

"It wasn't Horatio's idea," Natalia agreed. "So, how was your night?"

"What!" Calleigh exclaimed. "You ask me about my night when you're not finished telling me about yours?"

"I thought I _was_ done," Natalia joked.

Calleigh gave her an evil look until she realized Natalia was joking. "You had better tell me more!"

Natalia laughed, "You are almost as bad as Valera."

"I'm insulted!" Calleigh teased, laughing.

Natalia smiled at her, but began to tell Calleigh about everything that happened last night. "It was strange though. Ever since Nick, I have never felt safe with a man. I have been nervous when a man has tried to get close to me, but Horatio…he's different. I wasn't nervous at all, he made me feel…very safe. That scares me a little bit, all these feelings that haven't surfaced since Nick."

"Horatio is a good man," Calleigh assured Natalia. "You shouldn't be scared about anything when he is around. He's a protector, and he will protect any one of us with his life."

All of this emotion at once was too much for Natalia to take in, so she decided to change the subject. "Did those pictures get developed?"

"They did," Calleigh confirmed. "I have a feeling they will help our case greatly."

"Lovely," Natalia commented sarcastically. "I get to be humiliated in front of millions of people. And I might even lose the case."

Calleigh laughed, "It's not millions of people. It's just going to be a courtroom. Don't worry about it. Like I've told you before, we've got Horatio on our side. And that's something you want."

A few days later, they found themselves in the courtroom. Everyone from the lab was there, and Natalia was worried. She didn't know why, but she just had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Call it crazy woman's intuition, but it was there and strong.

Horatio could tell something was wrong, and he tried to calm her. It wasn't working. Horatio could make her feel safe at any time, except now. She could just feel it. Something bad was going to happen. How did she get into this mess? Where did her life go wrong?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the judge banging the gavel. Suddenly she heard a gasp from the CSI team. She leaned over to Horatio, who was sitting beside her, and asked him what was wrong. She saw Nick walk in, but she didn't see the significance of his attorney.

"Kevin Rossi," Horatio whispered back.

"So?" Natalia asked. "Is that the bad attorney that you said he had?"

"No, I don't know what happened to his bad attorney. This man is…very good and very experienced," Horatio told Natalia.

She sucked in a breath of air, "So I still might go to jail?"

"No!" Horatio firmly said. "I already told you I'm not going to let that happen, and just because _he_ got a better attorney does not mean that our evidence has changed."

Natalia just looked at him uncertainly. "Are you sure? I mean if he got a better attorney, he might have better evidence."

"No!" Horatio repeated, just as firmly. "You won't go to jail. I won't let that happen. Just trust me."

_You don't know what you're asking_, Natalia thought to herself. She wasn't experienced in trusting men, and frankly she didn't like to do it. She reminded herself that this was Horatio, and she could trust him. Calleigh had told her that over and over again. Finally, Natalia relaxed a bit as she remembered Calleigh's comforting words. _Horatio won't let you go to jail. He would die before he would let you spend a night in there. You don't deserve it and everyone knows that_.

As quickly as those words comforted her, she thought about something not so comforting. Just because she didn't deserve to go to jail didn't mean she wouldn't. She knew that all too well. Natalia took a deep breath and looked over at Horatio. He didn't look scared, so why should she feel scared?

Things were going well for Natalia in court. She felt as though maybe everything would be alright, until Kevin Rossi asked permission to question her. Natalia's eyes got huge, and Horatio and her attorney tried to object, but the judge didn't see why Rossi couldn't question her, so their objections were overruled and the fear residing in Natalia's stomach grew.

"Please state your name," Kevin Rossi said, beginning.

She couldn't help but think this sounded like some court TV show, "Natalia Boa Vista."

"What is your relationship to the defendant?" Rossi asked.

"He is my ex-husband, whom I have a restraining order against," Natalia answered.

"Why do you have a restraining order against him?" Rossi questioned.

"So he doesn't hurt me any more than he already has, according to the pictures you saw earlier," Natalia replied.

"Are you sure?" Rossi inquired, getting to the reason he called her up to the stand.

Natalia wrinkled her forehead wondering where he was going with this line of questioning. "Of course I'm sure. What other reason could there be?"

"I ask the questions here Miss Boa Vista, but luckily I was getting ready to answer that one. Are you sure it wasn't to control your own anger? In fact, I am getting ready to charge you with attempted murder as well."

Natalia took in a breath, and blinked a few times. Horatio's face was beet red with suppressed anger, and Natalia's attorney jumped up and shouted his objection to the last statement. Luckily, the judge decided to sustain it this time.

"Mr. Rossi, if you have any proof of that statement, you need to show it to the court," the judge demanded.

Rossi just smiled, "I have plenty of proof."

In the audience, Eric leaned over to Calleigh. "I was afraid of that."

Calleigh nodded, and gasped as he pulled a tape recorder out of his pocket. "I know what he has on there," Calleigh told Eric, remembering Natalia's words in the hospital. Before Calleigh had time to recall them all, they were floating through the courtroom. _"I threw that lamp at him with the intent of killing him. If I hadn't collapsed when I did, I was going to go into the kitchen, get a knife and put it in his chest and finish the job."_

Natalia closed her eyes for a minute and tried to calm herself. Calleigh had said that was in self-defense. The judge and the jury had to see that as well.

"Why did you say that?" Rossi questioned.

"I only said that because he was hurting me. I had to stop him, so throwing that lamp and stabbing him in the chest was in self-defense."

"You were trying to get him to stop hurting you," Rossi clarified. "Didn't the lamp have the desired effect? Didn't that stop him?"

"Yes," Natalia answered. "But it wouldn't have stopped him for long. He was going to wake up eventually."

"But you were going to stab him before he began to hurt you," Rossi remarked. "So it is attempted murder, because you had no reason to stab him at that point in time."

"But I didn't stab him!" Natalia cried.

Rossi smiled evilly at her, "Exactly. Why do you think it's called attempted murder? That will be all, Your Honor."

"You may step down now Miss Boa Vista," the judge told her gently, seeing the toll this line of question had on her.

When Natalia reached her seat, Horatio wanted to take her in his arms and make all her hurt evaporate, but he couldn't. This was not the place to do such, and it would probably give Rossi more information at this point.

The judge's words were barely registering in all the CSI's minds, but luckily the attorney was listening. "It is now time to send the jury out to make their decision. They are deciding whether to charge Natalia Boa Vista and Nick Townsend with attempted murder…separately. For example, one can be innocent and the other could be guilty," the attorney repeated to the CSI's after the jury had evacuated the courtroom. The attorney then left the table and Natalia sighed.

Natalia looked at Horatio with sadness evident in her eyes. "I told you I would end up going to jail."

"You are not going to jail!" Horatio exclaimed, with determination in his voice. "I don't want you to worry about this." Horatio jumped out of the chair and Natalia turned around to the CSI's to find all of them gone except Calleigh.

"They went to get something to eat," Calleigh explained. "Listen to Horatio. He'll figure something out; he always does."

_Oh no! What will happen to Natalia! Keep reading and you'll see. Review! _


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: I don't own. _

_A/N: Well, well, now, what will happen with Natalia and Nick? Are they going to go to jail? Are they both going to end up in jail? Are neither one of them? Read and find out!_

Thirty minutes later Horatio came walking back into the courtroom from the door the judge went out when he dismissed court. He looked considerably happier than he did when he went back there and Calleigh knew he had figured out something.

"What happened, Horatio?" Calleigh asked. "She's not going to jail, is she." It was more of a statement than a question.

Horatio shook his head. "Nope."

Natalia was too shocked to formulate a full sentence. "How?"

"I polled the jury," Horatio answered.

Calleigh's mouth dropped, as did Natalia's. "Can you do that? I mean, now?" Calleigh asked. "Isn't that illegal or something?"

"Well, it is normally looked down upon, and isn't allowed," Horatio agreed. "But the judge and I searched and no where in the books does it say the polling of the jury has to be done after they have reached a verdict."

"What if some of them did want to send me to jail," Natalia wondered.

"Well, some of them did," Horatio consented. "But before I got a chance to talk them out of it, their counterparts did it for me. They began to yell at the ones who were sure you were guilty and asked them how they didn't see that in self-defense, and pretty soon they were agreeing with me that you were innocent."

Natalia was just shaking her head. "You amaze me! You were ready to do something illegal…you did something illegal just so I wouldn't have to go to jail."

Horatio just shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal, "You didn't deserve jail and besides, it wasn't totally illegal. _That man_ is awful. You shouldn't have to go to jail for protecting yourself."

"But just because someone doesn't have to, doesn't mean they won't," Natalia pointed out to Horatio.

"True," Horatio concurred. "But in this case, that statement doesn't apply."

Natalia looked at Calleigh in shock and Calleigh just smiled and nodded. Natalia read Calleigh's nod as saying something like _I told you having Horatio as an ally would be a good thing_. Natalia had never fully appreciated that statement until today.

Suddenly she thought of something. "What about Rossi? Won't he be mad when he finds out what you did?"

"He won't find out," Horatio told Natalia confidently. "I'm certainly not going to tell, and the jury isn't allowed. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Natalia shook her head, but stopped talking about that, because Nick and Kevin Rossi walked into the courtroom. Nick smiled evilly at her, but it didn't scare her this time. She was almost sure he was going to jail, and she knew she wasn't.

Nick began to walk over to her, but she stopped him. "I do still have a restraining order against you, you know. I know you broke it once, but I'm not sure you really want to do it again, in a courtroom. Especially when you are going to go to jail for attempted murder."

Nick stopped walking but continued to harass her. "I'm not so sure about that. You are going as well. I'll be able to get to you when that restraining order is up then. You won't be able to have another one in jail." Suddenly a sly grin appeared on Nick's face. "Besides, I heard the jails are becoming overcrowded lately. We might even get to share a cell. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Natalia took a deep breath to calm her anger. She wasn't scared now, because she knew she wasn't going, but she had to make it look like she didn't know any different. Inwardly, Horatio applauded her, and just added that to his list of points of why she would make a good CSI.

"Nick, can you just sit down for a while?" Natalia asked. "I really don't want to deal with you right now. If you are so sure that I'm going to jail, why don't you just sit down and think about how bad you are going to hurt me in jail?"

As Nick began walking away, Natalia rolled her eyes, but smiled. Horatio looked at her. "Why did you say that?"

"Because that's the only way he would go away," Natalia responded. "If he thinks about hurting me, he will be content and won't bother me."

Calleigh suddenly spoke up. "It amazes me how unaffected you are by all this."

Natalia shrugged. "I don't think I am unaffected by this. I think it is going to take a long while to get over what Nick did to me. I just know Nick is probably going to jail now, and I won't have to worry about him hurting me again."

Suddenly the jury filed back into the room, and Natalia couldn't help but be a little nervous. Everyone was quickly called back, and everyone was instructed to rise as the judge walked in the room.

Natalia looked at Horatio. "Is it strange that I am still nervous?"

Horatio shook his head. "It's natural." He took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Don't worry, okay?"

Natalia took a deep breath and managed to nod her head. When he tried to release her hand though, she would have none of it and brought her hand back to hold his. She felt her cheeks turn red, but Horatio didn't seem to mind her sudden gesture, because he laced their fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Calleigh looked up at them and smiled. She nudged Eric and he almost fell out of his chair when he saw at what she was looking. Eric looked at Calleigh in pure astonishment, and she almost laughed out loud.

"He is capable of affection too, you know," Calleigh told Eric.

"But—" Eric was interrupted by the judge beginning to speak.

As soon as the judge began to speak, Natalia's hold on Horatio's hand became unconsciously tighter. He moved his thumb in soothing circles on the back of her hand, but it did nothing to calm her nerves.

"Has the jury reached an overall verdict?" the judge asked.

"Yes, Your Honor," the foreperson of the jury assured the judge.

"Bailiff," the judge said, making the man rush to the jury and get the verdict from the foreperson.

"This is the verdict on Natalia Boa Vista," the bailiff told the judge, just preparing him.

The judge just nodded and relayed the information to the courtroom. "The verdict on Natalia Boa Vista is Not Guilty."

Natalia let out a huge sigh of relief and Horatio squeezed her hand again. Before she had a chance to celebrate her victory Kevin Rossi jumped out of his seat. "No! I want the jury to be polled this second."

The judge narrowed his eyes at Rossi. "Sir, if you don't sit down and if you have another outburst like that I _will_ hold you for contempt of the court. But I'm going to poll the jury."

After the jury was polled and the verdict was truly not guilty, the judge asked Natalia and her friends to hold their excitement until they got the verdict on Nick.

The bailiff rushed over to the foreperson and went back to the judge. This time, there was no need to clarify whose verdict this was. "The verdict on Nick Townsend is…guilty."

Natalia pressed her lips together to keep her emotions inside for a minute. She knew Rossi was going to ask for a poll again. The judge did another poll and it was still guilty.

As soon as the bailiff walked over to take Nick out of the room, all of the CSI team (and some other people) were on Natalia in a rush of celebration.

"Wait!" Natalia shouted, and she quickly moved out of their smothering grasps. She watched Nick being taken away with a strange look on her face.

Horatio walked up to her, and was taken aback when he didn't recognize the look. "Are you okay?" Horatio cautiously asked.

"I'm fine," Natalia assured him. "It's just…so surreal. Ever since he got…well, scary, I have wished for this moment. Now that it is finally here, it just feels too good to be true." She turned to look at him. "You're sure those cells are secure."

Horatio actually smiled at her. "Of course they are. You don't ever have to worry about _him_ again."

Natalia couldn't stop the tears that gathered in her eyes, nor could she stop them from rolling down her cheeks. "I can't thank you enough for all you have done. If it wasn't for you, I would be in jail right now. Thank you so much, Horatio!"

Before he could comprehend what she was doing, before _she_ could comprehend what she was doing, her arms were around his neck and she was hugging him as tight as possible. Horatio was very surprised at first, and quite frankly, when he put his arms around her, he was still quite shocked.

Natalia suddenly came to her senses and realized they were still in a courtroom. A courtroom that was full of people who wanted to congratulate her, a courtroom full of her colleagues, much less. She quickly let go of Horatio, whispered another quick thank you, wiped her tears and walked over to the rest of the team. She was soon bombarded with so many hugs, Horatio couldn't see her anymore.

Horatio watched her retreating figure and sighed. Someday he would hopefully have enough courage to ask that beautiful woman out for a date. Someday he would tell her how brave she was to withstand all of Nick's abuse and Kevin Rossi. Someday, he would tell her he loved her more than words could ever hope to express. Someday, he wouldn't be afraid of getting hurt again. The only problem was: he wasn't sure someday would ever arrive.

_Yeah, I know, the polling the jury wasn't very original, but I'm no judge and that was the only thing I could think of. Even my dad (who is a judge) couldn't think of anything else. So, now…will Horatio ever find courage somewhere inside of him? And what about Natalia being the mole? It will all come to light soon…but not if you don't review. I would like more than two reviews for this chapter. I mean, come on guys! _


	16. Chapter 16

_ Disclaimer: You know this by now._

_ A/N: And now…Natalia is the mole! She has decided to tell the lab. How is she going to handle this? Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing. Enjoy!_

That night, when Natalia got home, she knew she couldn't handle it any longer. She had fallen for Horatio, and fallen hard. She loved every one of those CSI's and she knew that what she was about to do would destroy all the trust she had worked so hard to build. She sat on her bed going over and over her decision, trying to find another way out of this mess. There wasn't one. This was what she had to do.

"Hello," Monica said on the other end of the phone.

"Monica, this is Natalia Boa Vista," Natalia informed Monica, hoping to get this over with as quick as possible.

"Oh yes, I heard what happened with you. Are you alright?" Monica asked, pretending to be concerned.

Natalia wasn't fooled. She knew Monica was only worried that she couldn't report anymore. Monica was in for a lot of surprises tonight. "I'm fine, Monica, thank you for asking. Now, enough of the small talk, I have something very important to tell you."

"I already know about the money scandal," Monica told Natalia. "In fact, I'm surprised you know. I thought the lab would take longer to find it."

"Find what?" Natalia questioned. "I didn't hear about any money scandal, and the lab doesn't know anything either."

Monica gasped, "Disregard what I just said. Don't worry about it."

Natalia suddenly got an idea on how she could help the lab. Maybe it would soften the blow of her true identity. Well, probably not, but she could try, right? "Oh come on Monica," Natalia persuaded. "You can tell me. I'm your inside girl. I'm supposed to know all these things."

"Maybe you're right," Monica mused.

Natalia held her breath, but didn't say a word. She may not like this game she played, but she played it well. She knew when to pester and when to be quiet. She knew the time Monica took to think was critical. If Monica decided not to tell Natalia because she was pestering too much, then Natalia would have nothing to tell the lab, except that she was a flat out snitch. Gosh, that sounded awful!

"Okay," Monica finally agreed. "I'm only going to tell the bare bones of my plan. This is a good one though; it will for sure put that lab out of business. They had a big case last week, with lots of money. Some of that money has suddenly disappeared. We don't know how it happened, but we do know that everyone in that lab touched the bag, the evidence. Everyone except you."

"Who took it?" Natalia cried.

"I can't tell you that, honey," Monica said. "If I do, it will be all the worse for you when they come to question you."

"But if I didn't touch the bag, why are they going to question me?" Natalia reasoned.

"They may want to know if you saw anything," Monica reasoned back to Natalia. "I just don't want to tell you anything else. After the lab is out of business, I promise, you will get a bonus, and be very well paid until you can find another job."

Natalia took a deep breath, now was the time. "Look, Monica, as nice as that sounds, I have to quit this job…now."

"What!" Monica shrieked. "You can't do that! Not after I just told you my plan! I'll tell you who took the money if that will make you stay! I'll tell the lab what you are if you don't stay!"

"I don't care, Monica," Natalia truthfully stated. "I'm going to tell the lab tomorrow anyway. I'm going to tell them that ever since they met me I have been reporting back to you."

"I won't give you a bonus. You'll get fired and you will have no source of income, no way to support yourself," Monica threatened. This was the last piece of good argument she had. If Natalia didn't take this, all was lost.

"I don't care," Natalia repeated. "I know it will be hard, and I'm prepared to get fired. I know you have some personal hate thing going on with Horatio, and for a while that was okay with me. I refuse to help you satisfy it any longer though. All those people in that lab have been so nice to me. They were all so sweet and kind when I first entered, and have strived to help me in every way possible since, especially Horatio."

Monica just rolled her eyes, "I'm going to tell the lab what you are," she threatened again.

"You go right ahead," Natalia retorted. "And just hope that you beat me to it." She hung up the phone with a loud _smack!_ and then fervently hoped Calleigh remembered what she had so sweetly told Natalia in the hospital. Natalia picked up the phone again, this time to check and see if Calleigh did.

"Calleigh," Natalia began hesitantly, after Calleigh had answered the phone.

"Oh hi, Natalia," Calleigh said, cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Fine," Natalia answered shortly. "I actually had a question for you. Do you remember saying something to me in the hospital about not ever shooting me?"

"Yes," Calleigh remembered. "I do. Why? Am I going to wish I never said that?"

"You're kidding, but unfortunately, probably so," Natalia whispered, feeling worse by the second.

"Oh Natalia," Calleigh sighed. "What have you done?"

"It would've been something awful, if I did it all," Natalia told Calleigh. "But I didn't do everything the job required."

"I think you'd better explain," Calleigh invited, knowing she didn't want to hear, but knowing she had to hear it.

"I was supposed to be reporting all the wrongdoings of the lab to Monica West," Natalia quietly confessed. "She told me to tell her everything, but I didn't tell her anything. It's just; no one will believe me when I tell everyone tomorrow."

Calleigh nodded her head, even though Natalia couldn't see her. "No one will. But, why are you telling me all this right now?"

Before Natalia could think about what she was doing, everything spilled out of her mouth. The whole story was out and Natalia was telling Calleigh everything. She also told her about the money scandal that Monica was talking about earlier. "She wouldn't tell me who took the money, but I'm sure it was someone close to her," Natalia concluded.

"Wait!" Calleigh suddenly exclaimed. "You said someone stole money? I have an idea!" Calleigh told Natalia her idea and then quickly hung up the phone just to pick it back up again.

"Special Agent Peter Elliot, please," Calleigh requested to the secretary on the other end of the phone.

"Peter? CSI Calleigh Duquesne. Yes, it's been a long time. Listen, I need your help!"

_ What is Calleigh going to do? Will whatever Calleigh's considering work? Please review! I need reviews if I am going to continue! If I don't get any more reviews I might just delete this story completely! Please review, make my day! _


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: Still don't own._

_A/N: And Calleigh knows about Natalia. What is she going to do with Peter to make everything better? How is Natalia going to deal with being a mole? Read to see. Thanks to my fabulous beta…enjoy!_

Natalia saw Calleigh standing at the entrance of the lab the next day. "Has Monica been here yet?" Natalia frantically asked.

Calleigh shook her head. "No." Suddenly Calleigh's phone rang and she reached to answer it. "Duquesne."

After she hung up she looked at Natalia. "You're wanted in Horatio's office."

Natalia's eyes almost popped out of her head.

"Relax," Calleigh comforted Natalia. "He couldn't possibly know anything yet. Monica hasn't been here and she wouldn't call him and tell him."

"How do you know?" Natalia questioned.

"She would want to see Horatio's reaction. She knows he's fallen for you, everyone with eyes knows. Monica would want to see how Horatio reacts to the news. Anyway, you've been requested."

Calleigh watched Natalia walk away, and felt sorry for her. Suddenly, Peter walked up and Calleigh began to get him ready for the plan.

Meanwhile, Natalia was trying to calm herself. She was a big believer in woman intuition ever since the trial, and right now she had a very bad feeling about this.

Hearing Horatio's voice telling her to come in just made her feel worse about everything she had done. She didn't think she could stay for the duration of the day today.

"Did you want to see me?" Natalia inquired of Horatio.

Horatio's face suddenly took on an unfamiliar look. Natalia didn't know what this look was; she also noticed Horatio wouldn't look her in the eyes. She thought they had addressed that problem in their first meeting. She knew he didn't know yet about her though, because she would be able to tell if he was angry or disappointed, and those looks weren't invading his face.

"I was just wondering what your plans were for tonight," Horatio muttered.

Natalia gasped. Was he asking what she thought he was? "Actually, I was planning on going—"

"Never mind," Horatio interrupted.

"Why did you want to know?" Natalia questioned. She didn't think he would tell her the real reason, but she was sure she would be able to tell if he was lying.

"I just had some DNA that I was going to have you work on so that—" Horatio began.

This time Natalia interrupted him. "Well, if you need my services here, I can cancel my plans." She could tell he was lying about the DNA, but she still felt the need to stay on his good side by offering to do more work.

"No, no, that's fine," Horatio assured her. "You can just do it tomorrow."

Natalia nodded her assent, not saying she wasn't going to be here tomorrow, or any days in the future. She also recognized his last statement as a form of dismissal, and walked out of his office.

Calleigh was again standing at the door watching Peter wait for Monica to arrive when Natalia joined her. "Hey! What did Horatio want?"

"He was on the verge of asking me out on a date," Natalia told Calleigh nonchalantly.

"What?" Calleigh almost screamed. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Natalia replied. "He asked me if I had plans tonight and I said 'Actually, I planned on going,' but then he interrupted me and told me not to worry about it. He told me he just needed me to work on some DNA. I could tell he was lying though, because he wouldn't meet my eyes."

Calleigh shook her head. "Why didn't you let him take you out on a date? It would be so much fun!"

"I just couldn't," Natalia whispered. "When he finds out what I did, he won't want to take me out, and it will just make everything more awkward when he has to break the date three hours after making it."

"If this works, he won't want to break the date," Calleigh reminded Natalia. Before either one of them could argue anymore about the date, Calleigh gasped. "Look! Here comes Monica." Calleigh pushed RECORD on a small tape recorder. Natalia crossed her fingers and hoped this worked. Suddenly Peter's voice could be heard flowing through the tape recorder.

"Hello, Monica," Peter greeted her.

"Hello," Monica said. "What are you doing here? As if I don't know."

Peter looked a bit confused, but answered anyway. "There has been some money stolen from a case a few weeks ago. I'm here to investigate. I suppose that's why you're here as well."

"Yes," Monica agreed. "I'm here to watch the lab go out of business."

Peter just looked at her. "What?"

"I knew that money was gone before the lab reported it to you," Monica explained. "Remember last week when I was supposed to meet you here and then we were going to go out on our date? Well, I stole some of the money then."

Peter gasped. "I thought you had someone on the inside."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Oh please! Boa Vista was useless! I can tell you the names of everyone in there, what their specialties are and how kind they have all been to her, but I couldn't tell you what any of them are doing wrong! Why can't I tell you? Because she refused to tell me! I needed that information if I want this lab to go out of business."

Natalia couldn't stand hearing this anymore. She raced outside to Monica before Calleigh had a chance to stop her. When Monica saw her, Monica nodded in recognition.

"I don't know what Horatio did to you, and quite frankly, I don't care. In my eyes and in every citizens eyes, he will always be a hero, the man who goes beyond the call of duty, the man who will get justice for someone who deserves it, no matter what it costs him to do so. He will drop the case off at the courthouse and make sure it gets the attention it merits. He will fight to make sure justice is given to anyone who deserves it, no matter what they have done in the past. I firmly believe if he had to choose between justice for someone or his job, he would pick the justice, without a second's hesitation. Yet, you don't care, do you? He clears the streets of dangerous criminals, but he's not following protocol. He's saving the lives of innocent people, but he's not doing it by the book, so you have the right to put him out of business. Do you really have that right? And if so, why must you abuse it on a sweet, kind, caring man like Horatio? All he wants for the world is justice." Natalia finally gathered enough sense to realize what she was doing, and from the looks on Monica and Peter's faces, she had said too much.

Monica recovered first and began answering Natalia's earlier questions. "Of course I have that right. I am the state attorney, and I have to right to correct anyone who is not following the rules."

"But must he follow the rules to a T? He is helping people who can't help themselves," Natalia argued.

"If they can't help themselves, then he shouldn't help them. When someone can't help themselves, it just means they are weak," Monica declared.

Natalia's eyes narrowed. "Don't you ever call those people weak." Her voice had gotten low and very quiet. She was trying very hard to keep her voice from shaking; she wasn't sure whether the tremble would be from anger or fear, she just knew she didn't want Monica to hear it. She was thinking of herself and Nick. If Horatio hadn't stepped in, she would be dead right now, and Natalia was not going to have Monica call Natalia and any other helpless woman simply weak.

Luckily, Calleigh could see it was time to step in and referee. Before Monica or Natalia could say anything more, Calleigh broke in quickly. "I realize things like justice don't matter to you, Ms. West. Unfortunately, the things that do matter to you are rather unimportant in the big scheme of things. To help you learn what should matter to you, I am about to tell you something very important, and hopefully you have enough sense to care. You are under arrest." Calleigh held up the tape recorder, to inform Monica that Peter was wearing a wire, and they were taping everything she said.

"Peter!" Monica exclaimed. She couldn't believe he would do that to her, but somewhere her subconscious told her she deserved it. She quickly ignored that.

Peter watched the officer take her away, and Calleigh felt a little sorry for him. "She will probably be out on bail in a few hours time."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "But don't worry, when she gets out of holding she won't have anything to do with your lab anymore. She won't have anything to do with me, either."

"I'm sorry," Calleigh whispered to Peter's retreating figure. She knew he was sad, but he helped in making sure the right thing was done, and hopefully that would help him through the pain of losing Monica.

Calleigh quickly looked over at Natalia to make sure she was alright. "Are you okay? That was pretty intense."

"I'll be fine," Natalia said truthfully. She didn't want to say she was fine right now, because she wasn't fine yet.

"Well, that will certainly get you points with Horatio, defending him like that," Calleigh assured her.

Natalia chuckled humorously. "Yeah, why don't I just go up to the lab and shout out 'I love you, Horatio,' because that's basically what I just said."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Read into it what you want, but I don't think it sounded that bad. Horatio won't let the rest of the lab listen to that part, and it will make him smile, trust me."

"I hope so, because I meant every word," Natalia whispered, suddenly worn out, and feeling like she couldn't stand on her feet for another minute. "Do you by any chance have the authority to tell me I can go home?"

Calleigh sadly smiled at her. "I'm afraid I don't. But I can tell Horatio that you were feeling awful and had to go home."

Natalia felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she had to do this. "Can you also tell him that I have decided to quit?"

Calleigh gasped. "I can, but why? At least wait until they all hear this."

Natalia shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't think that will restore their faith in me."

Calleigh nodded. "Okay, I'll tell him you've decided to quit. But if it's trust you're worried about, I just want you to know, you've got mine. 100 percent."

Natalia just looked at her, too shocked to say anything for a moment. "Thank you," Natalia whispered when she finally recovered, and quickly walked to her car to let her tears spill over there, and not here in front of Calleigh. Natalia didn't need to make a fool out of herself again.

Calleigh watched her retreating figure, and felt awful for her. She was sure this tape would get her back in with the lab. Yes, there would be some people who still wouldn't trust her, but in the end, Natalia would be good for the whole lab.

Calleigh wasn't trying to fool herself. She knew things would be hard for Natalia at first. She would get questioned by Rick, have a whole batch of proficiencies to take, and all her previous unsolved cases would get reopened. Calleigh knew that when Horatio called Natalia to give her the job back she would take it though. Natalia was a strong woman, and she would be able to handle this as well as she handled everything else.

_Natalia quit! Now what? How will the rest of the lab feel about the tape? What will Horatio do when he finds out that Natalia quit? Review! There are only two chapters left. I want to get a lot of reviews before I post the next chapter tomorrow…so make my day and review…please! _


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: I still don't own._

_A/N: The second to last chapter. Horatio finds out that Monica stole the money and that Natalia quit. The team finds out as well. How do they react? Oh, and I'm not sure how much I like Horatio in this chapter…but you can be the judge of that. Thanks to Jessica237 for betaing. Enjoy!_

Calleigh knocked on Horatio's door and when he told her to come in, she came in with a small smile on her face. "We caught the person who stole the money, and she is in holding right now."

"Who was it?" Horatio asked Calleigh.

"I'm pretty sure you will be very happy when I tell you that it was the state attorney, Monica West," Calleigh told him, smiling. "We also have proof that it was her; she confessed on tape."

"Well…that's wonderful," Horatio remarked, really meaning it, but not showing too much emotion. "May I please listen to the tape."

"In just a second," Calleigh told him. She now had to tell him the news about Natalia. "Natalia wanted me to tell you that she started feeling sick, so she had to go home. Also, she thought in light of everything that happened this afternoon, it would be better all around if she just quit."

"What!" Horatio exclaimed. "What happened this afternoon?"

Calleigh just looked at him for a second to make sure this was the same Horatio. A few seconds ago, they had put his arch enemy in jail and he didn't care. Now, Natalia had quit her job, and Horatio was on the verge of having some type of fit.

After she recovered her ability to speak coherently she told him, "Just listen to the tape. That should explain everything."

Horatio didn't dismiss Calleigh, he just grabbed the tape recorder from her hand, rewound it, and began to listen. Calleigh figured as long as she wasn't dismissed, she might as well stay. After all, he may need someone to bounce ideas off of when he was finished listening to the events of the afternoon.

"Wow," Horatio breathed after the tape stopped.

Calleigh nodded. "It was all pretty intense."

"Natalia should have hurt her," Horatio declared. "Monica had no business calling those people weak. She has no idea."

"I know," Calleigh agreed. "I had to step in though. Natalia is already going to take proficiencies and go over her old cases. I didn't think she needed Rick on her back any more than necessary."

Horatio shrugged. "I guess you're right. Although _I _ would like to hurt Monica."

Calleigh laughed. "She's in holding right now. Have at it."

"I don't need Rick on my back either," Horatio stated. "Especially with everything else that I will be dealing with soon."

Calleigh smiled and knew what he meant. Getting Natalia back in her job, progressing in the relationship, et cetera.

"I guess that means we need to call the team in here," Calleigh assumed.

Horatio stopped her with a question. "You don't think I'm being too hasty do you? I mean, you do think she should be able to come back, right?"

"Of course!" Calleigh exclaimed. Then she hesitated, wondering if she should say what she was thinking. She decided to just say it. "Natalia just quit because she thought no one would trust her. I realize that she is going to have some trouble, but I told her that she has all my trust."

Horatio's eyes got wider. "Really? You trust her?"

Calleigh shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, I realize what she did was wrong, and she definitely shouldn't have done it…but at the same time…she didn't report anything bad, and that says a lot of her character. I'm sure Monica was paying her much better than she could hope to get from the city."

Horatio nodded, thinking this over quickly. "You're right. You know, I think the team would like to know that you still trust Natalia. After all, I'm sure you trusting her will be enough for Eric…"

Calleigh's cheeks got incredibly red, but she didn't answer. She didn't even have to act surprised; she knew Horatio would figure it out eventually. "You know Ryan and Valera are going to have a hard time accepting our inviting her back," Calleigh told him, trying to get the attention off of her and Eric and their love lives.

Horatio nodded. "We will have to talk to them. In the end, they will have to accept it though, because Natalia is good for this lab. In fact, I was thinking about asking her to be a CSI, instead of just an analyst."

Calleigh gasped. "That would be amazing! Do you think she would do it? I know she would be perfect at the job."

"I hope so," Horatio said. "I agree that she would be perfect at the job. I asked her once and she declined, but things are different now."

Calleigh nodded. "Things are _very_ different now. I'll call the rest of the team in here."

In a matter of ten seconds the team was rolling into Horatio's office asking what was so important. Horatio began to tell them when Eric spoke up, "Shouldn't we wait for Natalia?"

"She wasn't in DNA," Valera announced. "Have any of you seen her?"

"She got sick," Calleigh lied. "She had to go home."

"And this tape should explain why she felt she had to quit," Horatio added.

"Quit!" Valera shouted. "She is the best analyst we have had in a while, besides me of course."

"Why would she quit?" Ryan asked.

"They said the tape would explain it, Wolverine," Eric teased.

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Eric."

"Sorry, Wolverine," Eric apologized, very insincerely.

"Eric!" Calleigh insisted. "Stop it!"

Horatio looked at his team. "Do you think you can all hold your thoughts until we are finished listening to the tape?"

They could all tell Horatio was serious and they didn't say anything. They also could tell this tape was important.

After the tape was over Valera was the first to recover from the shock. "And to think I actually liked her! I taught her everything she knows about DNA and look what she did!"

"What did she do, Valera?" Calleigh asked.

"Yeah," Eric agreed. "She didn't tell the state attorney anything. Monica West said so herself, and you know Monica wouldn't lie about something like that. You just said she was the best analyst we have had in a while."

"Besides," Calleigh continued. "I trust her."

Eric looked at Calleigh with the same shell-shocked expression Horatio would have worn a few minutes ago if he was big on expressing himself.

"I trust her," Ryan declared. "If Calleigh does."

Eric rolled his eyes while Calleigh tried to hold in her laughter.

"It will take some time for all of us," Horatio told them all. "But I'm going to go and ask her to come back to work, and I'm going to give her the option of becoming a true CSI. I want you all to be nice to her, and soon you all will forget that she ever had anything to do with Monica."

Valera flipped her short hair. "I'll try to be nice, but to think I told her all my gossip. Who knows who she told?" She then left the office.

"It's gossip!" Ryan cried. "Isn't it supposed to be told to people?"

"Yes," Eric agreed. "But Valera gets most of the pleasure of telling everyone herself. She likes being the gossip queen of the lab."

Eric and Ryan walked out of the office, leaving Calleigh and Horatio alone again. Suddenly Calleigh had an idea. "Hey, Horatio, are you going to go to Natalia's house and ask her to come back soon?"

"Actually I planned on doing it just as soon as you leave," Horatio said, trying to give Calleigh a hint that he wanted her to get out of his office.

Calleigh laughed. "Well, I have some insight for you before you go to her house. You may want to ask her again if she has plans tonight. I'm pretty sure the ones she had disappeared. And if she's going to be a CSI now, there's no DNA you need her to work on, is there? In fact, I don't think there was any DNA in the first place," Calleigh winked at her boss. "Have fun!"

Horatio just watched her go and began to shake his head. When had this happened? When had he become so readable? Well, he supposed he should be asking when she had become so perceptive. _This can't happen!_ he told himself. Natalia could already read him too well (which was obviously what was going to make her a good CSI and surprisingly what made him love her), and he just couldn't have two people in his team know what he was thinking all the time. Why did Calleigh have to be such a good CSI?

_ So, Horatio doesn't want her to quit. The bigger question here is does Natalia want to come back? Hmm…I guess the last chapter will give us the answer. I hope you liked this. Please review! It would make me happy! :)_


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: I didn't own at the beginning, and reaching the end of this story did not make me acquire them (although that would have been fantastic!). _

_A/N: Here is the last chapter! It's kind of sad. Okay, now, I have to give some thank yous, so this will be a bit longer than my normal author's notes. Okay, first of all, a million thanks to my beta, Jessica237. I didn't thank her in every chapter like I should have, but I am thanking her now. I'm especially appreciative that she betaed this story, seeing as how she doesn't even really like this pairing. I'm especially appreciative that she beta's all my stories, since she didn't fill out a profile. Next, thanks to my reviewers. I didn't get as many reviews as I would have liked, but I'm definitely glad I got as many as I did. I have to give a special thanks to daxy and Green for reviewing all my chapters! Thank you daxy for telling me all my chapters were awesome, and thank you Green, for encouraging me to continue when I was thinking about deleting the story. You are what kept me posting chapters every day. And lastly, thank you to my readers. I know there are some out there who are reading but not reviewing and that's okay. I was once part of that group myself. So thank you so much for reading. It helps to know that people like it enough to read! I hope you all enjoy this last chapter! _

Natalia was surprised when she heard a knock on her door. She hoped it wasn't anyone from the CSI team. Although she was sure they all wanted to yell at her, she didn't think they would do it so soon. In fact, she thought for sure they would wait a few days until they had cooled down some. She had hoped they would wait a few days, so she could manage a good story for them. When she heard the knock again, she realized she had no choice but to answer the door.

"Horatio!" she gasped when she opened the door. She really didn't want to see him right now. He was the one that would cause her the most pain, she was sure of that, and here he was, before she even had a good excuse to give him.

She didn't know what she was going to say, but she felt as though she had to say something. Technically it was his turn because she had already acknowledged the fact that he was here and had said something about it. Unfortunately her mind was not working correctly because before she could process the truth of that statement fully, her mouth was moving.

"I'm so sorry!" Natalia exclaimed. "I honestly didn't realize the harm I could have caused. I didn't tell her anything, but what if I had! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to break your trust in me, and I understand if you want to yell at me, I just would appreciate it if you would do it quickly. Wait, I have no right to tell you that, I'm so sorry! Just yell at me in any way you want, and did I mention that I was sorry?"

"About twenty times," Horatio reminded her. "And you really didn't need to say it. You don't need to be sorry. You did nothing."

Natalia's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Really!"

"Really," Horatio echoed. "You did nothing wrong. You never told Monica anything bad about us. You only told her good things, which made her desperate enough to steal that money, which put her in jail, which made the whole lab happier. Without meaning it, you still helped us out, a lot! You got rid of Monica for us."

"So no one's mad at me?" Natalia asked, unable to believe it.

"Well…" Horatio stalled.

"I knew it," Natalia grumbled. "Who is mad at me? Well, I guess a better question would be: Who isn't mad at me?"

"You had it right the first time," Horatio informed her. "The only person mad at you is Valera. And really, she has no right to be, because after I told her you quit, without telling her why, she said that you were the best analyst the lab has ever had."

"Besides her of course," Natalia added absentmindedly.

Horatio raised his eyebrows. How had she known that?

"She always used to remind me of it," Natalia clarified, without Horatio needing to ask. "I'm going to miss that."

"She'll get over it," Horatio promised Natalia. "She'll die without someone to which she can spill all her gossip. She will be over it in a matter of weeks. But it doesn't really matter whether she is or not. You won't be seeing much of her."

"But you just told me I did nothing wrong!" Natalia cried. "You're going to fire me anyway? I said I was sorry, and besides, you can't fire me. I already quit!"

"I'm not firing you, Natalia," Horatio patiently told her. "I just want you to become a CSI, and not just an unsolved DNA analyst."

"What?" Natalia breathed.

"Monica was stopping you before, but now, nothing is," Horatio reminded her. "You will still be able to work with DNA, and if we find some on a case you will be able to run it. It will be great!"

Natalia bit her lip. There were still things that she was worried about, but right now there was another pressing question that needed to be answered. "How can everyone be okay with this? How can you want me to be a CSI, after all I did?"

"I want you to be a CSI because you will be amazing in the role," Horatio remarked. "You are amazing at everything you do."

Natalia couldn't believe she was about to cry. Horatio was here, asking her to become a CSI, and the gravity of it all hit her suddenly. She blinked to shove the tears back, but the blink had the opposite effect. The tears were now rolling down her cheeks and she was powerless to stop them.

Horatio suddenly noticed she was crying. He walked over to her and lifted her chin up with his left hand. "What's wrong?"

"I just can't believe you want me to be a CSI in your lab, after all this. I was an awful person, and here you are, wanting me to come back, and saying they all want me back…except Valera. It is just too good to be true," Natalia sniffed.

Horatio shook his head. "It's not too good to be true. It's just how we are."

Natalia began to shake her head, but noticed his hand hadn't moved, so quickly stopped the movement of her head; she didn't want his hand moving any time soon. She suddenly laughed. "I must look awful right now. I always look terrible while I am crying, and especially after I'm finished crying."

Horatio studied her face very closely, and then said something very, very out of character for him. "I think…you look beautiful."

Natalia's eyes widened again. "How can I look beautiful? I don't even…"

Horatio had placed his fingers over her lips. "Shhh," he whispered, and then replaced his finger with his lips.

Natalia gasped, but that didn't stop her from kissing him back. She was amazed that he was okay with them kissing, that he had actually initiated the kiss. She was really amazed that she was still thinking! She stopped any thought that was still left, and began to enjoy the kiss.

As soon as she started to enjoy the kiss though, her lungs were screaming for air. _Ignore it!_ Natalia told her brain. _Just ignore it!_ Natalia suddenly realized if she ignored it, she might pass out from lack of oxygen. Realizing how unsexy that would be, she quickly broke the kiss, took in a huge breath of air, and began kissing Horatio again, before he could react to anything.

Horatio broke the kiss, and began to laugh. "I have to breathe too, you know."

Natalia wrinkled her brow. "But that is something normal people do."

Horatio's face took on a confused look. "Okay, so what am I?"

Natalia sighed and smiled at him. "An amazing, wonderful man! A man who forgives without a second thought. A man who should really, really kiss me again."

To Natalia's dismay, he didn't. "You say I'm an amazing man? What makes you say so?"

Natalia pouted, but answered anyway. "Because you wanted me to come back to work in the lab…as a CSI…you have taught me that loyalty and friendship shouldn't be destroyed because of one wrong move. I have always been a rules kind of girl. Because I have worked at the lab, you have shown me that breaking the rules is okay, as long as justice is granted to a person in need. Besides, you are a pretty good kisser."

Horatio smiled. "You have only began to observe my amazing talents in kissing…and other things of that nature."

"Show me," Natalia whispered, unable to believe she was asking this of a man.

Horatio seemed to be in amazement himself. "Are you sure?"

Natalia exhaled slowly, to make sure she really was certain about this. "Horatio, in the past few weeks, I have felt different when it comes to you. Safe, and…unafraid. This could mean love, this could mean something else, but I know that I have to figure out what this new and different feeling means. Besides, I know you would never hurt me."

"I would never hurt you," Horatio repeated, making the words mean so much more by just saying them.

Natalia was quickly getting frustrated. She had been without Horatio's touch for at least a minute now. "Did I not just say that?"

Horatio smiled. "You did."

Natalia sighed in exasperation realizing he was teasing her, and enjoying it as well. "Teasing is not something an amazing man does."

"Then, maybe I'm not the amazing man you thought I was," Horatio teased, fully enjoying this.

"You said you had amazing talents in kissing, and other things of that nature," Natalia reminded him, her voice getting low, and driving Horatio crazy. He suddenly couldn't figure out why he was waiting so long to kiss her.

"I do remember saying something like that," Horatio felt the need to clarify, before he kissed her again.

His lips were suddenly on her mouth, and when he dragged his lips along her jaw down to her neck she breathlessly choked out, "Show me."

_Well, my friends, that's it. I don't know if I can rightly classify this story as romantic, seeing as how I only got a serious kiss in at the end and no M scenes at all, although there was insinuation. Of course, it wasn't suspenseful, or angsty, or anything else. I don't know…what did you think? Did you think Horatio was in character, up until the end? Did you like the story in general? Were you angry at how long it was and there was only one H/N kiss? Please review. I really need answers to these questions, and since this is my first multi-chap for this ship, my only story for this ship, I have to know how I did! Anyway, enough of my rambling, basically I'm saying, please review!_


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